John McGinn of Aston Villa must be dropped by Unai Emery following an injury scare and consistent performance.

John McGinn of Aston Villa must be dropped by Unai Emery following an injury scare and consistent performance.

After the international break, Aston Villa is getting ready to play again in the Premier League on Sunday, November 26, when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur.

With a victory over Spurs, Unai Emery’s team will be hoping to build on their stellar start to the campaign.

They are presently one point behind Ange Postecoglou’s team in fifth position and may move into the Champions League spots.

Despite the early concerns over his injury, Tom Collomosse (November 23) reports that the midfielder has been evaluated by Villa’s medical staff and there is increasing “optimism” that he will be able to travel to North London.

Even though Aston Villa fans will be relieved, Emery, who has used the midfielder whenever feasible this season, will be pleased with the development.

McGinn has just missed an hour of league action this season, having started all 12 of Villa’s Premier League games and played 1020 minutes.

The 29-year-old has started and participated in 89% of Villa’s Europa Conference League group games in Europe.

He has also played the opening half of Emery’s team’s lone Carabao Cup encounter.

McGinn has played 1521 of the 1710 minutes that Aston Villa has played this season, or 88.9% of the total, across all competitions.

It is obvious that Emery wants the Scotsman in his starting lineup whenever he is healthy.

Few midfielders in the Premier League have shown to be as big of a goal danger as the Villa captain, so the Spaniard has good reason to be concerned.

Even though McGinn only takes 1.06 shots per game on average, he ranks in the top 9% of positional peers in England’s top flight for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes this season [Fbref].

The Scottish international, whose assists per ninety minutes are in the 87th percentile, is also a creative force.

Compared to 76% of midfielders in the Premier League, McGinn averages 3.63 shot-creating actions per game and has been quite difficult to take out this season.

When it came to successful take-ons, he scored in the 94th percentile among his positional counterparts.

Villa would have played more football this season—720 minutes more than last—even if they had not advanced out of their group, including the Hibs qualifiers.

Although it would be tempting to start McGinn against Spurs, Emery would be better to rest his captain, particularly in light of his scare during the international break.