Matchday 4 facts and figures, for Wizmole and beyond….
THROUGH SIGN
Squall that nailed the group of center backs inductile within the opening 135 minutes of the season has thrown Ron Vlaar into a conceivably avid new circumstance. His switch over to the left half of the back line, made to accommodate Jores Okore, is the first of his time at Villa. That has aligned Vlaar closer to the giddiest of through-ball targets: Gabriel Agbonlahor himself.
Vlaar’s nine through-ball attempts since debuting last year in August are alone more than the total seven tried by fellow starting center backs Nathan Baker (five), Ciaran Clark (two) and still dewy Okore (zero) during the Vlaar frame. Below is the full look at who each targeted with those attempts.
Vlaar (9)
3 to Bent
3 to Benteke
1 to Agbonlahor
1 to Ireland
1 to Weimann
Baker (5)
2 to Bent
2 to Benteke
1 to N’Zogbia
Clark (2)
1 to Benteke
1 to Weimann
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BUSY OUTSIDE
Newcastle tends to play persistently anxious with the ball, a style that can be comfortably harnessed if defenders don’t try too furiously keep up with it.
In the second half of the Magpies’ 1-0 defeat of Fulham, they had four of their first five attempts from outside the penalty area blocked before Ben Arfa broke through with his 24-yard winner. Fulham didn’t block one of Newcastle’s four outside attempts afterward, slackening the defensive base to pursue an equalizer more vigorously.
Villa’s ability to knock down shots from the outside has been plausible thus far. The squad’s five blocks among 12 tries by foes from the outside — a 41.6 percent block rate — is currently tied for third-best in the league. Below is the full list.
Outside Shots Blocked
Premier League Percentages
Outsiders Blocked/Outsiders Conceded
44.1 Fulham (15/34)
42.1 Cardiff (8/19)
41.6 Aston Villa (5/12)
41.6 Manchester City (5/12)
41.6 Norwich (5/12)
41.2 Sunderland (7/17)
35.0 Liverpool (7/20)
33.3 Southampton (4/12)
27.7 Crystal Palace (5/18)
26.1 Hull City (6/23)
26.1 West Brom (5/19)
25.0 Stoke City (2/8)
23.1 Chelsea (3/13)
23.1 Everton (3/13)
23.1 West Ham (6/26)
23.1 Swansea (3/13)
17.6 Arsenal (3/17)
16.6 Manchester United (3/18)
16.6 Tottenham (2/12)
0.0 Newcastle (0/6)
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ESCAPE TEAM
More familiar faces will be loose around the PL now that Darren Bent (Fulham), Barry Bannan (Crystal Palace) and Stephen Ireland (Stoke City) are offloaded elsewhere in the top flight. They’ll join a group of formerly permanent Villans who have had mixed results since leaving town amid varying circumstances.
Below is the comparison between the amount of minutes each of the last nine in-league departures played during their final season at the Villa and the amount they have averaged each season since.
Gareth Barry
Last Villa Season: 3,384
Average Since: 2,757
Difference: -627
Carlos Cuellar
Last Villa Season: 1,517
Average Since: 2,256
Difference: +739
James Collins
Last Villa Season: 2,780
Average Since: 2,492
Difference: -288
Stewart Downing
Last Villa Season: 3,385
Average Since: 2,207
Difference: -1,178
Brad Friedel
Last Villa Season: 3,420
Average Since: 2,205
Difference: -1,215
Craig Gardner
Last Villa Season: 313
Average Since: 2,471
Difference: +2,158
James Milner
Last Villa Season: 3,172
Average Since: 1,864
Difference: -1,308
Steve Sidwell
Last Villa Season: 1,225
Average Since: 1,709
Difference: +484
Ashley Young
Last Villa Season: 3,051
Average Since: 1,479
Difference: -1,572
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RIP Malcolm “Wise Up Dear Friends” Everall
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—Patrick Kinmartin (PKtype@Gmail.com ….. http://goo.gl/kLJDB)
Go for a 2:1 win today. But it will be a tough test for us. Will Kozak starting?
Think he will come on in 2nd half for the last 20 min.