Keinan Davis: Should Aston Villa stick or twist?

Aston Villa fans are very much divided when it comes to Keinan Davis. His appearances have been short lived, and this hasn’t made it easy for Davis to make a real impact as of yet. Is there enough evidence to suggest he might one day be a regular contributor for Villa?

He signed for Villa in 2015 from Biggleswade Town at the age of 17 and made his first team debut a year later against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup in 2017.

Davis made 28 appearances in the 2017-18 season under Steve Bruce and failed to set the world alight after scoring twice and tallying one assist. This led to the signing of Lewis Grabban in the January transfer window as Villa searched for the goals Davis couldn’t provide.

This is to be expected however, the Championship is a tough league especially for an inexperienced youthful striker. His progress after this in the years following has been stunted by injury. In the 2019/20 season he missed 115 days through injury. A time where Villa were in desperate need of a striker after the injury to Wesley.

He has also missed 37 days this season through an ankle injury. Although, regardless of this it has been difficult for him to break back into the first team after the form Ollie Watkins has shown. Davis did however impress in a brief cameo against Fulham where he hunted down the defender, dispossessed him and set up Trezeguet for his second of the afternoon.

Aston Villa have scored 16 goals in the 17 times Davis has been given more than 20 minutes off the bench (@AVFCFaithful_), it is clear when given the chance he does provide an impact.

He has had limited playing time, so these figures are inflated slightly, but per 90 minutes this season Davis is averaging 8.84 shot creating actions, which is up from 3.28 in the previous season. He brings other players around him into play with his ability to hold the ball up, and with a pass accuracy of 78% he is regularly able to find them.

Watkins is often praised for his work rate, but Davis isn’t far off. In just 24 minutes played against Fulham he recorded more pressures (10) than Anwar El Ghazi (8) who had played 61 minutes. 40% of the time Davis pressured the opposition it led to Villa regaining possession within five seconds. Just like Watkins he is the first line of defence.

When adjusting his figures for full games played over the past year, Davis wins 4.65 aerial duels per 90 minutes of play. Which is in the top 13% of strikers within Europe’s Top 5 League’s. His aerial presence is clear to see, although he hasn’t fine-tuned this to become a threat from set pieces, with experience his movement and general goal scoring instincts will improve. This is difficult without regular playing time though.

He also receives 14.8 progressive passes per 90 which is in the top 1% of strikers in Europe. His hold up play is a real asset, the 4-4-2 shown against Fulham clearly worked. Davis and Watkins working in tandem could be extremely effective with Davis’ ability to hold the ball up.

Davis is also extremely able with the ball. He averages 1.38 dribbles completed per 90. The confidence he showed in the goal against Fulham where he was running at pace and still executed a perfect cross demonstrates this.

Overall, Davis is an interesting player, but at 23 years of age he cannot keep being referred to as a prospect. Davis needs regular playing time, and this may not be the correct situation at Villa. Watkins is irreplaceable currently, Wesley will most likely be ahead of him in the pecking order when he returns to full fitness as Villa invested heavily into him.

Villa are also rumoured to be in the market for a new striker in the coming summer, with links arising to former loanee Tammy Abraham. Davis shows true quality in his cameos, but in order to reach his full potential he may have to leave Villa Park. The selection of the out of form Ross Barkley as the final substitute against Liverpool after Davis’ solid outing against Fulham only solidified this claim.

The striker signed a new deal in 2020 keeping him at the club till 2024, the backroom staff clearly believe in him. A loan deal to the Championship could be the ideal situation for him, regular playing time will hopefully lead to a flurry of goals to back up his promising displays.

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