The 2023/24 season has been very successful for Aston Villa so far, who sit fifth in the Premier League.
After Unai Emery’s appointment in October 2022, he has improved his side by leaps and bounds, ensuring Europa Conference League qualification last season, via a playoff round.
The Villans have been excellent in the Conference League so far this season, winning five out of eight matches they have played, whilst scoring 16 goals and keeping three clean sheets along the way.
They are now set to face Lille across two legs in the quarter-final, with the French side set to provide stern opposition for Villa. Les Dogues are currently fourth in Ligue 1, just four points of second-place Brest.
With lots of competition for places in this Villa side, it will be fascinating to see who Emery picks. In particular, there are lots of options out wide.
Most recently, Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers were selected by the Spaniard, although there is one other option who could be deserving of a start on Thursday at Villa Park.
Aston Villa's underrated option
The man in question is Moussa Diaby who is currently in his first season with Aston Villa. The 24-year-old winger joined the club from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, in a deal rumoured to be worth £51.9m, a club record fee for Villa.
In his first season in the Premier League, Diaby has scored five goals and seven assists in 31 games, although he has played just 1,725 minutes, which equates to 19 full games in total. 12 goal involvements in that time is not a bad return in the slightest, although he has struggled to cement his place in the side.
However, Diaby has registered four goals and assists in his last six Premier League games, including an assist apiece against Luton and West Ham, and a goal and assist against Wolves at Villa Park.
This is somewhat down to the superb form of Leon Bailey. The Jamaican has scored eight goals and assisted eight goals so far in the league, although he has failed to register a goal involvement in his last five games. As such, perhaps the Frenchman should be unleashed on this occasion.
Both wingers play in the same position, although Bailey’s superb carrying ability arguably gives him the edge. The 26-year-old is one of the most direct wingers in the Premier League, and, according to Fbref, he averages 4.62 progressive carries and 2.47 successful take-ons per 90 minutes this season, which place him in the 76th and 81st percentile respectively for wingers in Europe's top five leagues.
In comparison, Diaby averages 3.88 progressive carries and 1.54 successful take-ons per 90 minutes, ranking him in the 61st and 45th percentile respectively, as per Fbref.
Moussa Diaby's Conference League exploits
Given the more direct nature of Bailey, it is not necessarily hard to understand why the Jamaica international starts over Diaby for the most part. However, the latter has been in much better form of late, and this extends further than the Premier League.
Aston Villa’s most recent Conference League victory came against Ajax, a superb 4-0 thrashing at Villa Park. Ironically, both Bailey and Diaby scored, but it was the Frenchman’s performance that really stood out, with his goal in the 81st minute capping off a wonderful performance from the Villans.
Diaby played behind striker Ollie Watkins with Bailey on the right against Ajax, and his performance caught the eye of many onlookers. He picked up an 8/10 rating from Birmingham Mail’s Aston Villa correspondent John Townley in his post-match ratings. Townley explained Diaby “was a menace for the Ajax backline and looked confident throughout the 90 minutes”.
Aside from his goal, which capped off his performance, Villa’s number 19 created two chances and completed both of his dribbles, as well as winning 4/6 of his ground duels, showing desire and tenacity off the ball, as per Sofascore.
It could well be the case that Diaby’s excellent Conference League performance last time out, plus his work in the Premier League, is rewarded by Emery with another start against Lille on Thursday.
The last two times Diaby and Bailey have started together, Villa have won, 1-0 against Wolves and that memorable 4-0 win over Ajax. Certainly, if the former Arsenal boss can figure out a way of fitting both into the same team, it is something that could be a massive benefit to Villa.
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