Aston Villa must recruit a striker in January
In the previous part of the season, Aston Villa was not brilliant, but has managed accumulate enough points to stay in the race for the playoff. The club from Birmingham has provided fickle games so far, and this particularly applies to team’s attack. The fact that Villa has scored only 31 goals in 23 games, says enough about their realization problems. However, firm midfield and tough defense enabled them to fight for the Premier League spot.
At the moment, Albert Adomah is the club’s top scorer, and it says about how ineffective the attackers were. Offensive midfielder from Ghana plays a fantastic season, but he doesn’t have enough help in attack. Current attacking power available to coach Steve Bruce is not strong enough to attack the place that leads to the Premiership.
Jack Grealish wasn’t at his best this season, but he is still very important for the club and the team’s play continues to be based on him. Club’s main striker and one of the most dangerous players in Championship, Jonathan Kodjia is still recovering from the injury and the question is when he will be ready to return on the pitch. Gabby Agbonlahor is increasingly absent from the field due to injuries, while young Hepburn-Murphy is still not ready for the challenges demanded by league’s high tempo. On the other hand, Scott Hogan, who arrived at the club in the past winter transfer market, failed to leave an impression and didn’t justify the expectations. Former Brentford forward managed to score only 3 goals in 18 games this campaign. And recently he had problems with injuries, which caused him to fall out from the first team. But Coach Steve Bruce expects Hogan to take his chances now that the remaining strikers are out.
In a recent interview, he said: “Scott hasn’t been fit. He had an operation four or five weeks ago and unfortunately it set him back a little bit. The one thing I’m trying, and it’s difficult at the moment, is I don’t want to put people in who haven’t trained in case they get injured again. Scott, it’s his time. Hopefully he can have a run of training week in, week out because he’s been stop-start with injuries.”
It is clear, however, that Aston Villa do not have many quality solutions in attack. This is precisely the reason why the club decided to take new striker in January. Given that the club does not have many funds available, it is logical to expect that it will look for some cheaper solutions on the market. And there are several opportunities.
If they manage to engage some of the reinforcements mentioned for January, it is possible that in 2018 we will see a much more attractive football from Aston Villa. The Birmingham side is a very inconvenient host that rarely drops points at home. And for those who think that Villa has chances to return to the elite, UK betting offers 2018 offers very fair and attractive odds. It provides ultimate betting pleasure and one of the best odds online, which makes it great place for passionate bookmakers. You can check the latest December 2017 betting offers here. Like Ladbrokes bet £5 and get £50 or £20 risk free bet by Paddy Power. There are many such attractive betting offers here.
Despite not scoring many goals, Aston Villa relatively often win the games against lower sides. They are yet to start wining against tough opponents. But, if everything goes as planned, club from the Villa Park could be a team to bet on for the rest of the season.
And the man who could help them is Leonardo Ulloa. Leicester in this season relays mainly on Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, while Iheanacho and Slimani are all ahead of the Argentinean. Departure of the experienced forward from the King Power Stadium is certain, and Villa could take that opportunity to strengthen the attack. The loan is imposing as a realistic option. Ulloa has the experience of playing in the Championship where he has performed successfully with Brighton and Leicester. And, a proven bomber is exactly what Aston Villa FC need.
James Wilson, a young Manchester United attacker, is also linked to a move to Villa Park. Very fast player, with solid finish; he could be a nice backup. Still, it’s hard to expect that Steve Bruce will take this gamble with such an inexperienced player.
Lewis Grabban, who currently plays for Sunderland on loan from Bournemouth, is also listed as a possible option. However, former Crystal Palace winger was playing great for “Black Cats” so far, scoring 11 goals in 16 matches and it’s hard to expect that Aston Villa can reach him right now.
But, transfer market has not yet started officially, so we should wait and see how the things will go in January.