‘Unbelievable’, ‘Take a bow’ – Many Leeds fans blown away by ‘Immense’ 29y/o v Aston Villa
Leeds United cruised to a 3-0 victory against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Friday evening.
It was in different circumstances, with Marcelo Bielsa without crucial players such as Liam Cooper, Diego Llorente and Kalvin Phillips.
That defeat was Villa’s first of the season, and also in their first home game since that 7-2 win over Liverpool, a distant memory after last night.
Luke Ayling was moved into the middle of the defence with Robin Koch and took the captain’s armband at Villa Park.
The 29-year-old has been superb since making the jump into the Premier League, and once again proved to be a bargain on his 150th performance for the club.
Ollie Watkins was the big signing for Villa this summer, and Ayling made sure that the former Brentford man didn’t even get a sniff all evening.
Ayling won four of his aerial battles alongside Koch and completed 48 passes – the third most on the entire pitch according to WhoScored.
With nine days rest until the next game against Leicester City at Elland Road, Bielsa should have enough to see Ayling return to his natural position.
Despite that, Friday proved that his versatility will be a great weapon for Bielsa if he is light in options at the back this season.
Many Leeds fans reacted to Ayling’s performance, with some even claiming that he will be knocking on the door of Gareth Southgate and England sooner rather than later.
MOT Leeds News have picked out some of the best reactions below…
In other Leeds United news, our player ratings from 3-0 thrashing of Aston Villa on Friday
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