Aston Villa have not been particularly potent in front of goal in the Premier League this season.
For instance, only three clubs have a lower rate of shots per 90 minutes (10.62) than Steven Gerrard’s side, who also have a lower shot-on-target percentage (30.6%) than the likes of Bournemouth (31.4%) and Leicester City (33.3%).
Having only won two of their eight league games so far this season, Villa recently failed to score against a Leeds United side which had 10 players on the pitch for the majority of the second half.
Luckily for Gerrard, his team are set to take on bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest on Monday night, who have conceded 21 goals in their eight league matches so far.
To try and shake things up in his team, one man that we feel the Villa boss should utilise for their next few games as a potential saviour is Danny Ings.
With seven league appearances to his name so far this term, the £120k-per-week striker has only started three times, the last of which was Villa’s 1-0 defeat against West Ham United in August.
Across those seven appearances, Ings has had a higher rate of shots at goal per 90 minutes (3.02) than any other player at the club. He also has the highest rate of goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (0.34) at Villa Park, showing how useful he can be in an attacking sense.
In March, Noel Whelan told Football Insider about the 30-year-old and his connection with fellow Villa striker Ollie Watkins: “He’s showing what a good player he is and how dangerous he can be when he drops between the lines to feed Ollie Watkins.
“He is a phenomenal finisher as well, and we’re really seeing that partnership work with Watkins. They’re building that telepathy, which is key to any good side.”
With Watkins having completed the full 90 minutes in each of Villa’s seven previous league games, perhaps having both strikers in the team could be what Gerrard needs to get his side firing.
Ings has been patient for another opportunity – now is the time to give it to him, as his record of 63 Premier League goals suggests that he might yet turn out to be Villa’s saviour this season.
