Player Ratings: Aston Villa 0-1 Watford - One win in eight as Villa suffer a defeat at Villa Park

Emi Martinez: 7/10

Made a number of fantastic saves and was easily Aston Villa’s best player on the day, keeping them in it on numerous occasions. Had absolutely no chance Emmanuel Dennis’ lone goal of the game.

Matty Cash: 6/10

Often Villa’s furthest player forward at times, the right-back delivered a few promising balls into the Watford box and was strong in the tackle in regards to his defensive duties as well. With Steven Gerrard looking to push his side on, Cash was replaced by the experienced Ashley Young in the 65th minute.

Calum Chambers: 6.5/10

From a defensive point of view, Chambers was strong in the tackle and kept things neat and tidy when on the ball — not a bad day at the office for Ezri Konsa’s short-term replacement.

Tyrone Mings: 6.5/10

A pretty quiet afternoon for the Villa defense, with Watford offering very little aside from their lone goal of the game. Mings was pretty tidy in his distribution of the ball and made a few important tackles when called upon.

Lucas Digne: 6/10

The Frenchman looked to be a frustrated figure, with a number of his promising crosses into the box failing to find a teammate due to the lack of cutting edge by Villa’s attacking trio. Defensively, the left-back could have done better on a number of occasions, with Watford finding space in behind him far too easily.

John McGinn: 4.5/10

The Scotsman looks absolutely exhausted and rather uncomfortable in the role he has taken on as of late. Time for McGinn to spend a game or two on the sidelines perhaps?

Douglas Luiz: 4/10

Another poor day at the office for Villa’s defensive midfielder, with the Brazilian looking rather lost throughout today’s proceedings and wasn’t all that convincing from a defensive standpoint either — often needing help from a teammate to nullify the rare Watford attacking efforts.

Jacob Ramsey: 5.5/10

Pretty passive during proceedings, with his most memorable contribution being a promising effort on the Watford goal, which soared just over. Villa’s midfield conundrum continues!

Emi Buendia: 5/10

Played a few tidy passes to the likes of Coutinho and Ings in the first half of play, but was a rather frustrated figure for the majority of the game, with Villa as a collective often moving forward at a rather lethargic pace.

Philippe Coutinho: 5/10

A poor outing for the Brazilian, who seemed to be a passenger today more than anything as Villa’s pressing game was nonexistent. Made some nice passes at times, but you’d want Villa’s star man to get more involved than he did today.

Danny Ings: 6/10

May be slightly controversial since he didn’t score today, but the striker made a number of promising runs through Watford’s defensive line and looked as hungry as ever. With more attacking support behind him, I honestly believe we would’ve seen the best of Danny Ings today.

---

SUBSTITUTES:

Ollie Watkins (58 mins): 5/10

Replaced a struggling Douglas Luiz and injected a bit of urgency into his side, but we all know how it works when Watkins and Ings are on the pitch together....it doesn’t.

Ashley Young (65 mins): 1/10

Replaced Matty Cash, which was easily the worst move of the game from Villa’s perspective as the the experienced defender struggled to keep up with the pace of the game and was at fault as his lackadaisical defending made it far too easy for Emmanuel Dennis.

Leon Bailey (71 mins): 5/10

Replaced Emi Buendia, but it was far too late for him to really make an impact, with his most memorable moment being a poor touch from an in-swinging ball in the closing minutes of the match.

---

MAN OF THE MATCH: Emi Martinez

Never easy awarding a man of the match performance to any member of this Villa side when they play as poorly as they did today, but the Argentinian shot stopper came up clutch when called upon and easily kept his side from going two, three, or even four goals down.

Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images