Aston Villa have had a rather shaky start to their latest Premier League season, as Steven Gerrard’s side have won one, drawn one and lost four of their six games.
With 10 goals conceded, only three clubs have conceded more than the Villa Park outfit, who have also faced 29 shots on target across their six league games, leaving five clubs having had more fired at them.
Looking ahead to Villa’s next games in the league, one player that we feel Gerrard must turn to in an effort to make his side stronger defensively is Jan Bednarek.
Villa signed the centre-half, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £20k-per-week, on a season-long loan deal from fellow Premier League side, Southampton, on the final day of the recent summer transfer window.
With 133 Premier League appearances under his belt, during which he has managed to score seven goals and provide three assists, the 26-year-old certainly has the experience to be a good fit for Villa.
To compare his previous league campaign at Southampton with current Villa defender Ezri Konsa’s, the Polish international made more successful tackles (21 vs 14), successful pressures (76 vs 64), blocks (64 vs 43), interceptions (95 vs 45) and clearances (169 vs 81) than the Englishman.
This shows how much of an upgrade the new arrival could be on Konsa, and therefore help Villa become tighter at the back and not concede so many shots and goals.
Described by Saints manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, as a “robust” defender that “does everything to protect his own goal”, Bednarek could be just what Villa need at this stage of the season, which makes us feel that Gerrard should seriously consider putting him in the starting XI for their next league game against Leicester City.
With Brendan Rodgers’ side also having a tough start to their campaign, they will also be looking for a change in fortunes, meaning that it’s likely they’ll go all guns blazing at the weekend to try and get a win, which is where Bednarek can come in and frustrate them.
