Snapped up from Sheffield United last summer, Matthew Lowton fitted the bill as part of Paul Lambert’s restructuring program at Aston Villa. Young, ambitious but with plenty yet to prove at the top level, the right-back arrived from Bramall Lane for a fee of around £3m and was immediately installed as a key component in Lambert’s first XI.
As the season unfolded, the defensive problems that plagued Lambert at Norwich continued to blight Villa’s backline. An attack-minded philosophy looked naïve at times as the midlands outfit found themselves on the wrong end of some serious goings-over – shipping five to City, four at home to Spurs and eight against Chelsea, Villa leaked 69 goals over the course of the campaign and managed five clean sheets all season, conceding in every match from Gameweek 17 onwards.
Key Factors
- Few defenders, if any, afford the same consistency of starts as the Villa right-back. Lowton missed just one match all season – the Gameweek 37 loss at Chelsea – after being subbed off early in the previous league fixture and was fourth overall defender in terms of minutes played. Lambert’s faith in the former Blades man is unquestioned – if he’s fit, he should start every match for Villa.
- After altering formation on a number of occasions last term, Lambert finally seems to have struck upon a 4-3-3 as his preferred option. As the Villa boss tinkered with his tactics in order to get the best out of his charges, he trialled three, four and five-man backlines with varying degrees of success – as he steels himself for a second season in charge, a greater degree of consistency looks key to Villa’s improvement under the Scot.
- Villa’s form across the final few months of 2012/13 affords reason for optimism. The midlands side registered five wins and a couple of draws in their last 10 games, tasting defeat only to United, Chelsea and Liverpool and scoring 21 goals over that period – given that they had won five of their opening 28 matches, scoring 26 times, their improvement is marked.
- Lowton also stepped as the season went on – he managed a single goal in the first 24 Gameweeks but followed that up with a goal and four assists in his final 13 appearances, with his penchant for a spectacular strike from distance always a threat. A 4-3-3 formation looks tailor-made for his talents – with a couple of defensive midfielder sitting deep, he should be afforded plenty licence to bomb forward and supply width from deep.
- Let’s face it – Villa’s defence can barely get any worse. From a Fantasy perspective, then, a price rise for Lowton looks unlikely across the games – if he continues at last term’s initial 4.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), he has the potential to be a real bargain, providing Lambert can instill a little extra resilience at the back next time round.
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Roll on this evening - Confeds cup on the TV and U21 scores on the iPhone.