Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) delivered another statement performance on Sunday, as Aston Villa came from behind to secure a 3-2 victory at West Ham United.
Here are our Scout Notes from the London Stadium.
ROGERS DOUBLE
Morgan Rogers continued his fine form in Gameweek 16, as he scored a second-half brace to help secure another victory for Villa.
Unai Emery’s men have now achieved nine wins in a row across all competitions.
His second strike, a wonderful dipping effort from 25 yards, means that Villa have scored 10 times from outside the box this season, the most of any team, as they continue to defy the expected goals (xG) models.
Notably, all of Rogers’ last six attacking returns have arrived on the road.
“The most important thing is how he is working, tactically and being versatile. He is now scoring goals and he is being brilliant. He always was playing, doing his work and with a huge commitment in everything we are working. Then, the goals are coming. He is feeling better and better.
“He is growing up so quickly and performing more and more better. He has qualities and he is strong. His mentality is a huge mentality. He is a really fantastic guy. I am so, so happy how he is responding. The idea I have is to use him through our structure.” – Unai Emery on Morgan Rogers
As a consequence of Pau Torres’ (£4.3m) injury, Rogers played off the left on Sunday, racking up five shots in the process, the most he’s managed in a single match all season.
As for Villa, they continue to find ways to get over the line, having generated only 0.45 xG against West Ham, yet managing to score three goals.
It initially looked like Ollie Watkins (£8.5m) had netted Villa’s equaliser, but the last touch came off Konstantinos Mavropanos (£4.4m), who ended up heading the ball into his own net. Watkins did at least claim the assist.
Emery’s men face Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal over the next three Gameweeks, but they head into that tricky fixture run full of confidence.
MARTINEZ + PAU INJURY LATEST
Emiliano Martinez (£5.1m) and Pau Torres both missed out through injury on Sunday.
Emery is hopeful that Pau will return to action in a couple of weeks, having picked up a “small injury” against Arsenal in Gameweek 15.
Martinez should be back sooner.
“He is injured [Pau]. He has a small injury.
“We have injured players like Emi Martinez, Pau, Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley.
“Different injuries. I don’t know … hopefully Emi Martinez can come back next week to train. Hopefully Pau Torres in two weeks, more or less.
“Tyrone Mings will be two weeks, more or less, and Ross Barkley a little bit more.” – Unai Emery
Villa aren’t as efficient in possession without Pau; however, Victor Lindelof (£4.5m) has performed very well in his absence, while Marco Bizot (£4.2m) is a significant upgrade on last year’s backup Robin Olsen.
Matty Cash (£4.9m) did pick up his fourth caution of the season on Sunday, however.
BOWEN THREAT
As we so often say, Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) was West Ham’s standout performer in this match.
His redirected effort in the first half marked his third attacking return in as many Gameweeks. He had another strike narrowly ruled out for offside, too.
A constant menace, you’d expect interest in Bowen to pick up following Saturday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, with West Ham top of the ticker in Gameweeks 18-25.
Mateus Fernandes (£5.5m) is another West Ham player to consider for this run.
He struck early on against Villa, firing home from a tight angle after a mistake from Ezri Konsa (£4.4m).
Given plenty of freedom to push forward, with Freddie Potts (£4.4m) and Soungoutou Magassa (£5.0m) lining up alongside him in central midfield, Fernandes has now produced a return, be it a goal, assist or defensive contribution (DefCon) points, in six of the last eight Gameweeks.
Overall, the structure is taking shape at West Ham, but they are still yet to keep a clean sheet under Nuno Espirito Santo.
In fact, they have now conceded more than one goal in seven of their eight home matches this season.
With a trip to Manchester City up next, they’ll also be without first-choice full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.2m) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.1m), who are set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) this week.
