On Saturday evening, Villa play Derby County while under the watchful eye of the Sky Sports cameras. Like us, the Rams have got four points from their first three Championship games. However, Derby haven’t got Mile Jedinak. Here are five players, along with the Aussie, who could make the difference on Saturday.
In Attack
Rudy Gestede vs Richard Keogh
Gestede’s shot conversion rate is currently double what it was last term. It seems that Ross McCormack is a reason for this. Both men are top quality strikers at this level, and are in the process of forming a Agbonlahor-Carew style partnership. The Scotsman put through Gestede for a lovely dinked finish against Rotherham last Saturday. The sometimes stroppy Ayew has been moved into midfield, leaving the more influential McCormack up front to boost Gestede’s confidence. The Scottish international was Fulham’s captain for a reason.
Keogh, who played for the Republic of Ireland in the Euro’s this summer, isn’t exactly David Luiz. Yet Keogh is forward thinking. So far he has made seven interceptions, a stat particularly high for centre-backs at this stage of the season. The upshot of this is that Gestede needs to carefully decide when to lay the ball off, as the Irishman could come out and foil him at any moment.
Villa need to abuse Gestede’s aerial ability again on the weekend. So far this season, the big man has won more aerial duels than anyother player in the Championship (40). Expect Richard Keogh to be beaten by Gestede in the air, the Irishman has only won 50% of his aerial duels this campaign, and is 5cm shorter than our striker. Rudy has to challenge Keogh for the flick-ons, rather than Jason Shackell, Derby’s bigger centre-back.
In Midfield
Mile Jedinak vs Will Hughes
Football league registration permitting, Jedinak will hopefully start on Saturday beside Ashley Westwood or Aaron Tshibola. Jedinak is a good tonic to Westwood, favouring the longer ball while the Englishman prefers it short. As seen with Gary Gardener, Di Matteo isn’t afraid to drop players on poor form, so Jedinak will know he needs to get off to a good start. Like Tommy Elphick, the Australian is a natural leader, Mile captained Crystal Palace to survival in their first season back in the Premier League.
Seemingly every summer, speculation ensues as to whether Will Hughes will be a Premier League player for the forthcoming season. This summer has been no different, with the midfielder attracting interest from Everton, Liverpool and Man United. For the England under twenty-one international, Derby may just be a case of unfinished business; in the last three seasons, the Rams have finished 3rd, 8th and 5th respectively. So far this season Hughes has been in fine form, Derby Telegraph man of the match in a 1-0 win against Preston.
In midfield, Jedinak will have to close down Hughes at every reasonable opportunity. In the last two seasons, on average, Hughes has created more than one clear goal scoring opportunity every game. Jedinak is renowned for tackling, yet he did commit 52 fouls last year. Nevertheless, the big Aussie was trustworthy, subbed on eleven times for Palace last term, presumably just to solidify the midfield and see the game out. Something we could have done with against Huddersfield on Tuesday. Will Hughes is no stranger to the tougher side of the game either. Hughes has made the third most tackles in the league this season with ten. If he gets the chance, Jedinak should try and muscle Hughes’ off the ball, the Australian international weighs 10kg heavier than his midfield opponent.
In Defence
Tommy Elphick vs Chris Martin
In seems Tommy Elphick has been the figurehead for Roberto Di Matteo’s reign. So far our captain has looked solid. In fact, if he had started the league cup game against Luton, we would have probably avoided embarrassment. Over the past few games, the former Bournemouth man has displayed an excellent reading of the game. Elphick is always on hand to stop across being delivered and can always be counted on to give his all. Something that previous Villa centre-backs haven’t done.
Chris Martin is recognised as one of the most dangerous strikers in the Championship. Two years ago, Martin managed to bag 21 goals on all fronts. However, the Scotland international is partial to a dry spell, his last competitive goal coming twelve games ago. This is a reason why the Rams are the joint lowest scorers in the division so far. Nonetheless, Derby have shown their desire to keep him, rejecting a 5 million pound offer from Wolves last week.
On Saturday, Elphick needs to be concentrated. Martin is oneof those players who can have a poor game but suddenly sniff a goal out. Though pace isn’t one of Elphick’s greatest attributes, he should be content with a sprint against the Derby international. Chris Martin is no Adama Traore. Generally, our captain doesn’t dive into tackles, which is what’s needed against Martin, who can manoeuvre the ball quickly.
