Ross Barkley’s performance in Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Saturday has drawn criticism, with Football Insider arguing the midfielder should be dropped for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Coventry City.
The publication highlights figures from data provider Fotmob, noting that the 32-year-old recorded an expected assists value of 0.01, failed with his only attempted dribble and was dispossessed four times during his appearance before being substituted shortly before the hour mark.
Barkley managed one shot, which found the target, and won five of his thirteen ground duels in a contest Villa lost despite having beaten the same opponents 4-0 in a Europa League semi-final earlier this year.
Football Insider contends that starting the midfielder again would hand Coventry an obvious weak point, suggesting Unai Emery needs to reshuffle his central areas to give his side a better chance of reaching the fourth round.
Wednesday’s fixture marks the first competitive meeting between the two West Midlands clubs since 2001. Villa have won four of their last seven encounters with Coventry and are unbeaten in the most recent three.
Emery has yet to indicate how he intends to approach selection for the cup visit, with both teams looking to build momentum early in the campaign.
