Calum Chambers was given his first appearance of the season by Steven Gerrard in Aston Villa’s 4-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday but had a mixed evening and was exposed defensively on two occasions which may worry his manager.
The 27-year-old started at centre-back alongside Tyrone Mings but didn’t get tight enough when Elias Kachunga drilled an effort just wide of the post, was beaten in a one-on-one by Kieran Lee as Bolton opened the scoring and was beaten by Kachunga in the second half.
Ashley Preece of Birmingham Live gave Chambers a player rating of 6/10 and was critical of him being beaten twice in one-on-ones, but he praised the defender for dealing with so many high balls – six clearances and one aerial duel won over the 90 minutes.
Bolton’s front three had six shots between them and 50% hit the target, so Gerrard won’t be happy his defence was breached so often. So with Kortney Hause being loaned out to Watford, Villa may need to sign a replacement defender while Diego Carlos is injured, as Chambers may not be trusted in Mings or Konsa’s stead.
In other news, Emiliano Buendia created as many chances as Philippe Coutinho v Bolton Wanderers
