Aston Villa’s start to the season has been rather indifferent and if it were based on results alone, it would be nothing much to shout about.
They lost their opening two matches to Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth, before defeating Everton at Villa Park on Friday night.
Goals from record signing Wesley, who scored his first for the club, and Anwar El Ghazi were enough to secure a 2-0 victory.
It was also Villa’s first clean sheet of the season having conceded five in their first two games.
However, those numbers aren’t a fair reflection of how their defence has actually performed. They have faced the Champions League finalists and silly individual errors cost them both goals against Eddie Howe’s men.
The partnership of Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels seems to have clicked and deeper statistics show just how well they’ve performed.
The Englishman has the most clearances per game in the league at 10.7 whilst the pair are second and third in the league for blocks per match at 2.3 and 2 respectively.
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has revealed that he plans to call-up one newcomer for their European Championship qualifiers, and although he hasn’t said who it is, speculation has suggested that it could well be Engels, and fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts.
One supporter claimed Engels was a top-six quality defender, whilst another described him as being ‘fantastic so far.’
A further member of the Villa Park crowd couldn’t believe that the 24-year-old hadn’t been capped already.
Here’s the best of the reaction:
Impressive is an understatement
Engels is easily a top 6 defender— Captain Jack. (@10Grealish) August 27, 2019
Didn’t rate him that much in pre season but has been fantastic in his 3 PL games
— Christian (@christian_avfc) August 27, 2019
Shocked Engles hasn’t already been capped, quality player
— Mark Ashmore (@mg_ashmore) August 27, 2019
Can’t imagine there’s anyone who deserves it more, if he keeps going like this he’ll be a regular
— Okay (@Okay170) August 27, 2019
Deservedly so
— Wayne T (@witton_warrior) August 27, 2019
He’s been fantastic, so far
— Rob Walker (@ImRobWalker) August 27, 2019
