Aston Villa slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League over the weekend, and it now means the club have lost three of their previous four matches.
While Unai Emery’s men are still occupying fifth place in the table, the Old Trafford side are just five points behind and things can change quickly.
They need to dust themselves off and prepare for the clash against Fulham this weekend. A win could restore their confidence, but another top-flight defeat could see Emery’s men unravel.
#1 Liverpool
24
32
54
#2 Man City
23
21
52
#3 Arsenal
24
31
54
#4 Tottenham
24
15
47
#5 Aston Villa
24
14
46
Several players failed to produce their best against the Red Devils and Matty Cash was arguably one of the worst performers for the club.
Matty Cash’s game against Man Utd in numbers
Cash may have provided a reliable attacking outlet against United, creating a big chance, delivering two accurate crosses and making two key passes during the clash, but defensively, he was all over the place.
The English-born Poland international committed three fouls and was dribbled past twice, as Marcus Rashford clearly enjoyed playing against the 26-year-old, giving him a torrid time during the match.
With the scores tied at 1-1 and Villa looking like they had snatched a point, the right-back was beaten to the ball all too easily for Scott McTominay’s headed winner, and he could have done so much better with the goal.
To compound his misery, Cash lost possession a total of 17 times throughout the 90 minutes, won just three of his 12 contested duels and was even awarded a dismal match rating of 4/10 by Birmingham World for his performance.
Will Matty Cash be dropped?
According to Birmingham World, ‘Rashford ran rings around him’ and he was also ‘sloppy in the first half’. As a result, this display may well give Emery a slight selection headache ahead of future matches.
Cash has been the undisputed first choice on the right side of the defence this season, and he does not really have any challengers for the role after injury occurred in the camp.
Ezri Konsa has played there on 13 occasions this term, yet he will be out for the next three to four weeks having suffered an injury against Sheffield United recently.
The only other first-team player who could replace Cash is Calum Chambers, yet he has played a grand total of just 178 minutes across three matches, with none of them coming domestically.
This clearly suggests that despite enduring a dismal display against Erik ten Hag’s side yesterday, Cash will likely still be in the starting XI when they play Fulham this weekend.
Emery has built a solid starting XI at Villa since taking charge in 2022, but he must improve his squad depth across a number of key areas during the summer transfer window, otherwise if injuries set in, he will be forced to play people out of position.
The Spaniard has a lot to think about, but another poor performance by Cash against the Cottagers this coming weekend could see the former Nottingham Forest defender dropped from the starting XI and forced to regain his managers' trust.