Matt Targett has been speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Aston Villa’s game against Wolves on Saturday.
Last time out, the £11.5m man scored an own goal in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, although he was shocked to see Lucas Moura hadn’t scored it.
What’s the story?
Well, Targett tells Sky Sports that he was taken aback by seeing ‘Targett OG’ on his phone after full-time.
The 26-year-old said: “I looked at my phone after the game and it said Targett OG. I was like ‘what?’. At first I genuinely didn’t think I touched it, so I thought it was a bit harsh.”
In truth, we were also surprised to see Targett, not Lucas, credited with the winning goal in north London before the international break.
At first, it looked like the Brazilian had tapped in Heung-min Son’s cross, and replays do not show Targett getting a clear touch on the ball.
Nevertheless, it has gone against him on this occasion.
Aston Villa and Matt Target up against it vs Wolves
As a Premier League left-back, the last team you’d want to face are Wolves.
Why? Well, the rampant Adama Traore usually resides on the right flank, meaning Targett will have to contend with the Spaniard at Villa Park.
As WhoScored show, no player across Europe’s top five leagues has recorded more successful dribbles per game than Traore’s 9.6.
Amazingly, the next closest player is Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala with 5.7 – the Wolves winger is out on his own.
Targett is a solid defender, and certainly wasn’t named as Aston Villa’s Player’s Player of the Season last term for no reason.
He is more than capable of stopping Traore, but he will have to bring his A-game to Villa Park this Saturday if he is to do so.
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