...and it’s not much better up front so far for Villa
IS it any wonder Villa are the third lowest scorers in the Championship? After all, they have just six players in their current squad who have scored goals for the club they currently represent this season
All hail Jonathan Kodjia, the ten-goal top goalscorer who has emerged as one of the stand-out stars in what’s turning out to be another miserable campaign in B6.
Albert Adomah, Jack Grealish, Gary Gardner, Leandro Bacuna and Nathan Baker are the only other scorers this season still available to Steve Bruce. The latter three have just one goal apiece but that’s one more than most of the others.
Only the bottom two sides, Rotherham and Wigan, have scored fewer goals than 14th-placed Villa. But what’s even more embarrassing is their struggle on the road
Eight goals away from home is the lowest tally in the Championship and Villa have recorded a pitiful two strikes in their last eight trips and you can guess the scorer of both.
Yep, you got it. Kodjia, the man Villa have turned to so often this season. His goals have directly contributed towards 14 of Villa’s 36 points and even when the rest of the team has struggled to produce, the big man has often popped up with a moment of magic to save his side.
The need for reinforcements in the last transfer window was crucial and soon we’ll be able to start judging boss Steve Bruce on his own set of players. Scott Hogan’s arrival will help. He’s a lethal finisher with pace, energy and a determination to succeed. Hogan set himself a target of 30 goals this season and he’s already bagged 14 this term for former club Brentford.
If he can hit the heights that he expects Villa’s woes in front of goal will end. Incredible they’ve only managed to score more than one goal in a game on seven occasions this season and they not found the net in a third of their league encounters. Hardly top-six form is it?
It’s not only down to the strikers, though. Villa have missed a goalscoring midfielder now for far too long. The centre of the park has been bereft of creativity for years but hopefully Conor Hourihane’s arrival will change that.
There’s still a long way this season and while Villa are running out of time to pull together a run of any significance, all is not lost just yet. They will have to address the woeful goals return first, though, else another season in the second tier beckons.