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Mid-Season Review: Aston Villa Defensive Stats by Player

I have comprised a list of the defensive statistics for each Aston Villa defender and midfielder (excluding wingers Marc Albrighton, Stewart Downing and Ashley Young), after dismal recent record. The stats show each player’s record thus far this campaign as well as their overall Premier League record for their combined clubs in parenthesis. The stats include the average amount of goals the team concede per game, the average amount of clean sheets the team picks up and the average number of shots on target it takes to concede when each player is on the pitch. I will list the top 3 players in each category regarding their defensive record as well as the bottom 3 culprits. Take into consideration that these stats were gathered prior to the Manchester City game.

Goals Conceded Per Game This Season

Top 3:

Steve Sidwell – 0.80

Carlos Cuellar – 1.38

Nigel Reo-Coker – 1.50

Bottom 3:

Habib Beye – 2.17

Ciaran Clark – 2.00

Stephen Ireland – 1.92

Steve Sidwell appears to be on his way out of Aston Villa next month after the clubs accepted offers from both West Ham and Wolves with the London club being his preferred destination. The midfielder has only started one game this season, appearing as a sub 3 times, and therefore has a clean sweep in the top rankings of the defensive records. Carlos Cuellar has recently returned to the team following Richard Dunne’s misdemeanours and has conceded the second least goals when on the pitch for Aston Villa. Nigel Reo-Coker has also recently returned to fitness and the vice-captain completes the top 3.

Habib Beye has the club’s worst record in this sense having conceded over 2 goals per game during his time on the pitch. In his new midfield role Ciaran Clark has been unable to prevent an average of 2 goals against the team when he is in the side. Stephen Ireland’s limited chances have yet to see him on the winning side for Villa and he may never achieve 3 points with the club after being touted with a move away in January. The team concede just under 2 a game with the Irishman in the team.

Clean Sheets Per Game This Season

Top 3:

Steve Sidwell – 0.6

Habib Beye – 0.5

Ciaran Clark – 0.47

Bottom 3:

Luke Young – 0.29

James Collins – 0.31

Stiliyan Petrov – 0.36

Again Steve Sidwell tops the Clean sheets per game record with Habib Beye close behind with the fringe players both appearing during one of Villa’s rare shut outs this season during their minimal involvement. Interestingly Ciaran Clark, despite conceding an average of 2 goals a game when in the team, has a decent clean sheet per game record at just less than 1 every other time he is in the team.

Luke Young has Villa’s worst record for clean sheets per game having been involved in an immaculate defensive result the least times in comparison to his spells on the pitch. James Collins has been the sides main centre-back mainstay but has the second worst record in this regard. Captain Stiliyan Petrov’s role of sitting in front of the back four doesn’t seem to be reaping the rewards as the Bulgarian charts as Villa’s third worst in this respect.

Shots on Target Per Goals Conceded This Season

Top 3:

Steve Sidwell – 10

Carlos Cuellar – 5.89

Nigel Reo-Coker – 5.48

Bottom 3:

Habib Beye – 3.85

Ciaran Clark – 3.93

Stephen Ireland – 4.48

Yet again Steve Sidwell tops this stat after only conceding a goal after 10 shots on target. Carlos Cuellar and Nigel Reo-Coker again complete a top three that is identical to that of the goals conceded per game record. It takes the opposition almost 6 shots on target to score when the Spaniard is in the team and around 5 and a half when Reo-Coker is present.

The bottom three of this stat is also identical to that of the goals conceded per game record. Habib Beye and Ciaran Clark are both unlucky enough to have conceded a goal in under 4 shots on target from the opposition. Stephen Ireland has the third worst luck when it comes to the ratio of goals conceded per shots on target. The follicly challenged want-away is part of a side which concedes every 4.48 shots on target.

Below is the full list of defensive stats for you to get your heads around!

NAME (Position)

Appearances (Sub)

Conceded/Game

Clean Sheets/Game

Shots On Target/Goals Conceded

Brad Friedel (GK)

19

1.79 (1.32)

0.37 (0.27)

4.50 (4.11)

Luke Young (FB)

14

1.86 (1.43)

0.29 (0.31)

4.65 (4.27)

Habib Beye (FB)

2 (1)

2.17 (1.44)

0.5 (0.29)

3.85 (5.40)

Carlos Cuellar (CB)

4 (1)

1.38 (1.24)

0.38 (0.27)

5.89 (6.22)

Stephen Warnock (FB)

19

1.79 (1.28)

0.37 (0.28)

4.50 (4.73)

Richard Dunne (CB)

15

1.69 (1.36)

0.38 (0.32)

4.63 (3.76)

James Collins (CB)

16

1.62 (1.32)

0.31 (0.32)

5.08 (5.76)

Ciaran Clark (CB)

7 (2)

2.00 (1.63)

0.47 (0.30)

3.93 (4.61)

Stephen Ireland (CM)

6 (4)

1.92 (1.40)

0.46 (0.38)

4.48 (4.38)

Stiliyan Petrov (CM)

10 (1)

1.73 (1.30)

0.36 (0.24)

5.00 (5.24)

Nigel Reo-Coker (CM)

9 (3)

1.50 (1.40)

0.36 (0.26)

5.48 (4.92)

Steve Sidwell (CM)

1 (3)

0.80 (1.08)

0.6 (0.24)

10 (6.3)

Barry Bannan (CM)

8 (3)

1.71

0.35

4.62

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