With ten minutes remaining, Aston Villa were down and out against Liverpool as Jürgen Klopp looked set to mark his final ever away Premier League fixture with a win.
20 minutes later, Unai Emery’s men had scored twice courtesy of Jhon Duran, sealing a share of the spoils in the process.
The Colombian hasn’t been given a fair crack of the whip under the Spaniard this season. Might this change after his display against the Anfield side?
Not everyone performed well, however, as Lucas Digne endured yet another frustrating evening for the Villa Park side on the left side of the defence.
Lucas Digne’s game in numbers vs Liverpool
The Frenchman was given the task of keeping Mohamed Salah during the clash, which is as tough a job as it gets in the Premier League.
Defensively, the left-back was poor, losing possession 23 times in total, winning just seven of his 14 total duels contested while committing two fouls on the evening.
Keeping a lid on the Egyptian was clearly proving to be a tough task, but Digne could have combated this by offering something going forwards.
Assists
0
Key passes
1
Possession lost
23
Fouls committed
2
Total duels (won)
14 (7)
Via Sofascore
Despite attempting five dribbles, Digne succeeded with just two, along with making only one key pass and delivering two accurate crosses from five attempts.
For his performance, journalist John Townley gave him a match rating of 6/10. Considering the statistics and the fact a place in the Champions League next term was on the line, this was more than generous.
With the summer transfer window fast approaching, could Emery move him on ahead of the 2024/25 campaign?
Lucas Digne’s statistics this season
The former Everton defender will be 31 by the time next season kicks off and with two years remaining on his current deal, it could be the ideal chance to find a buyer.
The former France international may have played a part in 32 Premier League games this season, yet he has registered only four goal contributions – one goal and three assists – during those matches.
Not only that, but the 30-year-old has created four big chances, averaged 1.1 key passes per game along with succeeding with just 0.3 of his dribbles – a success rate of 36% – hardly figures which have contributed towards Villa’s excellent campaign.
The former Barcelona defender has been a decent option for Emery since the Spaniard took charge in 2022, but an upgrade is surely required if he wishes to take Villa to the next level, especially with tough Champions League fixtures to come next term.
When compared to his positional peers in Europe’s big five leagues, Digne ranks in the bottom 84% for successful take-ons per 90 (0.34) and the bottom 79% for progressive passes per 90 (2.96) over the previous 365 days.
This is yet more proof that he is on the decline as a player, especially from an attacking point of view, and Emery must cash in on him this summer, otherwise, he might be in a spot of bother.