Aston Villa suffered a poor 4-1 defeat to Manchester City in midweek which could derail the momentum they were building following the international break.
Despite trailing just 2-1 heading into the interval, Phil Foden scored twice more during the second half to condemn Villa to their eighth league defeat of the campaign.
With seven games left, they hold a two-point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place, albeit Spurs have a game in hand.
The Midlands side takes on Brentford this afternoon and Unai Emery will likely rejig his starting lineup, dropping a midfielder who was poor against City.
Tim Iroegbunam’s game in numbers vs Man City
The youngster was given his first Premier League start of the season against the champions yet failed to really showcase his talent during the match.
The midfielder was deployed alongside Douglas Luiz in the heart of the midfield but completed just 12 passes during his time on the pitch, managing to take only 28 touches of the ball too, as he failed to really get involved.
Iroegbunam also won four of his ten ground duels contested, lost possession six times and succeeded with just one of his three dribble attempts, while being dribbled past on two occasions.
Accurate passes
12/14
Touches
28
Ground duels won
4/10
Tackles made
3
Possession lost
6
The midfielder was utilised due to John McGinn serving the last match of his three-game suspension, but with that ending, the Scot is in pole position to reclaim his position in the starting XI.
Iroegbunam will learn from this experience, but with much at stake over the coming weeks, unleashing McGinn against Brentford will be the most logical thing for Emery to do.
John McGinn’s season in numbers
McGinn was sent off against Spurs a few weeks ago due to a poor challenge on Destiny Udogie, subsequently receiving a three-match ban.
Prior to this, the former Hibs gem had played every single league match for the club, scoring six goals and grabbing three assists, proving to be one of Emery’s best players.
Not only that, but McGinn also ranks fifth in the squad for big chances created (9) in the top flight, along with ranking third for key passes per game (1.4), third for successful dribbles per game (1.6) and fourth for tackles per game (1.7), showing how effective he is across a range of metrics.
The £120k-per-week maestro had previously been described as a “relentless creature” by journalist Mat Kendrick during his first season at Villa Park, going from strength to strength ever since.
His availability ahead of the Brentford game will give Emery a massive boost as he aims for three points.
McGinn has shown time and time again – for both club and country – that he can make a difference when it really matters. The next seven games in the league are all must-win if Villa are to qualify for the Champions League next season.
With the Scot back in the starting XI alongside Luiz, Emery has his first-choice midfield partnership available and raring to go against the Bees this afternoon.
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