Analysis: Loss of attacking fluency an increasing concern for Aston Villa after lacklustre Brighton showing

When Dean Smith’s team kicked off at Brighton on Saturday night they knew a victory would move them to within two points of fourth-place and seriously strengthen their challenge for European football.

By the final whistle they were more than happy to take a draw, having submitted comfortably their most toothless performance of the season so far.

This was the fourth time Villa had been shut out this term but the first in which the opposing goalkeeper had not been required to break sweat.

Instead their own No.1, Emiliano Martinez, was once again the hero. The Argentine was credited with nine saves over the course of 90 minutes, of which at least three could be described as spectacular.

Smith was understandably effusive in his post-match praise of Martinez but will also be aware the shot-stopper has recently been required to demonstrate his superb reflexes a little too often.

The point saw Villa climb above Tottenham in the Premier League table and with matches in hand they remain firmly in the race for a top-six finish.

Yet any discussion over the bigger picture must, for this week at least, be placed to one side as Smith ponders precisely what has happened to his team’s much-celebrated fluency in attack?

So insipid were Villa at the Amex Stadium, there might be a temptation to put the showing down to a collective bad day at the office. Certainly, no player outside of Martinez or the back four emerged with much credit.

But that would ignore the fact that, barring a display at Burnley which occasionally bordered on the breathtaking – in a match Villa somehow contrived to lose due to some uncharacteristic defensive lapses – recent performances have veered more toward gritty than glamorous.

Smith’s men have now scored just three goals in their last four matches and only twice in the last eight have they netted more than once. While hardly a drought, it is still a far cry from the team who, at one stage in late December, looked like they would score every time they entered their opponents’ half.

Saturday’s showing was particularly puzzling, considering it came after a week when Smith had rare time to work with his players on the training ground.

Even Jack Grealish was subdued. This was easily his quietest outing of the season to date, his frustration summed up by the first half booking he received for pulling back Joel Veltman, having attempted to control a crossfield ball and instead seen it shoot off his boot and into the path of the Brighton man.

Veltman deserves no shortage of plaudits for the man-marking job he executed as the Seagulls, in a similar fashion to West Ham during their recent 3-1 win at Villa Park, were able to limit Grealish’s threat.

On such occasions attention turns to the men signed to ease the burden on Villa’s skipper but both Bertrand Traore and Ross Barkley had nights to forget.

Traore’s tendency to prioritise the complex over the simple, thrilling when it comes off, instead played his team into trouble more than once.

Barkley, meanwhile, was credited with Villa’s only attempt on target courtesy of a second half shot directed straight at goalkeeper Robert Sanchez but that was as good as it got for the midfielder, who is struggling to replicate the form he showed after first joining from Chelsea on a season-long loan last autumn.

Any criticism of Barkley must be placed in the context of those early performances, while also recognising his contributions have not been all bad since returning last month from a hamstring injury.

The 27-year-old helped orchestrate the excellent first-half against Burnley, while he also scored a fine header in last month’s 1-0 win at Southampton.

Saturday, however, felt like another game which largely passed him by and it feels fair for Villa to expect more from a player of such considerable experience and talent. In the grander scheme, there is a sense Smith’s team have to some extent been figured out by opponents and it will be interesting to see how the head coach, typically not the type to make sweeping changes to his line-up, looks to address the problem.

He certainly has no shortage of options and some players who have recently been watching from the bench will feel they are deserving of a chance.

Anwar El Ghazi, still Villa’s joint second highest scorer alongside Grealish, has been limited to just 45 minutes in the last seven matches while Trezeguet, a component of the team’s early season success, has not started a game since suffering a hamstring injury in November.

January signing Morgan Sanson, meanwhile, showed glimpses of his quality as a late substitute at Brighton. One run into the box in particular, when he just failed to make a clean connection on a Grealish cross, caused the hosts a rare moment of alarm. Certainly, no attacking player who started at the Amex can have any complaints if they find themselves on the bench when Villa host Leicester on Sunday.

Huge credit is also due to Brighton. Despite spending most of the season in the bottom six, Villa already knew the Seagulls were a tougher proposition than their league position suggests, having been beaten by them on their own patch back in November.

Graham Potter’s team have improved since, with recent wins over Leeds, Liverpool and Tottenham meaning they entered Saturday’s match as the Premier League’s most in-form team behind Manchester City. Villa would have been added to their list of scalps were it not for Martinez. The goalkeeper’s flying save to deny Leandro Trossard sparked a frenetic period late in the first half, during which he also tipped a Dan Burn header round the post.

Even better was to follow in the second half as he kept out efforts from Alexis Mac Allister and Veltman, both of which were deflected.

Like any great showman, however, Martinez reserved the best for last. Substitute Danny Welbeck had almost begun celebrating when he turned Adam Lallana’s cross toward goal at close range, only for Villa’s keeper to instinctively stick out a hand and divert the ball round the post.

Brilliant as he has been, Villa’s task now is to ensure their goalkeeper doesn’t get quite so many chances to bolster his showreel in the week’s ahead.