Aston Villa aren’t in the best of positions right now, sitting just three points above the relegation zone, and it’s fair to say that their summer signings aren’t paying off.
Danny Ings has only scored three times, Emi Buendia has got only one assist to his name while Leon Bailey has only started one league game since his arrival.
To make things even more frustrating, Villa missed out on a number of players who are shining this season in the summer.
Indeed, the Villans were linked with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Arnaut Danjuma who are shining at Arsenal and Villarreal.
However, there’s one Villa summer target who isn’t getting on too well this season.
We’re talking about James Ward-Prowse.
Now, we’re not saying that Ward-Prowse is a bad player. That would simply be untrue, but the fact of the matter is that he’s not living up to the incredibly high standards he set in the 2020/21 season.
Last term he netted eight goals and grabbed seven assists, but this term, he’s not really been at the races.
Yes, he has two goals, but both of those came from penalty kicks, while he’s still yet to register a single assist.
In fact, Ward-Prowse has more red cards than assists this season, which is a rather shocking stat for a player who hadn’t missed a single league minute for the past two seasons.
His underlying stats have also taken a hit, he’s making fewer key passes per game and he’s being dribbled past six times as often, showing that he’s playing with a lot less intensity this term.
Villa may have made their fair share of disappointing signings this summer, but it seems as though they have had something of a lucky escape with Ward-Prowse, who, for one reason or another, has gone backwards this season.
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