World’s best keeper joins England striker and six Cherries in Prem’s worst XI…

Ian Watson 06 Nov 2023 11:47 AM

Emiliano Martinez looks rueful after his mistake in Aston Villa's defeat at Forest. — Emiliano Martinez rues his mistake in Aston Villa's defeat at Forest.

Not surprisingly, the worst XI from the Premier League weekend is dominated by those who rolled over to have their bellies tickled by the champions, while Emi Martinez is humbled after his big night last Monday.

Here is the weekend’s worst XI, according to WhoScored ratings…

GK: Emiliano Martinez – 4.84
It wasn’t a vintage weekend of Premier League goaltending. Six stoppers scored less than six, but Martinez, six days after being crowned the world’s best, failed even to hit the five mark after making an almighty mess of Orel Mangala’s shot from outside the box in Villa’s defeat at Forest.

RB: Ashley Young – 5.68
The Everton veteran was sent off in his last Premier League outing before scoring an own goal to deny Everton the Dychiest of victories over Brighton. In fairness to Young, an unlucky deflection on Kaoru Mitoma’s cross was hardly a Jamie Pollock-esque howler, but the algorithms care little for such details.

CB: Illia Zabarnyi – 5.40
Now we come to the first of half-a-dozen Cherries in the wake of Bournemouth’s 6-1 battering at the hand of Manchester City. Zabarnyi, one of three centre-backs in a back five, failed to win a single duel at the Etihad and didn’t make a tackle.

CB: Lloyd Kelly – 5.23
The Bournemouth skipper was the worst-rated outfield player, with only keeper Andrei Radu (5.00) recording a lower score after retrieving the ball from his net six times. Kelly was the victim of Bernardo Silva’s genius for City’s finest goal of the lot.

LB: Milos Kerkez – 5.51
Likewise, Kerkez was unfortunate to find Silva in sublime form, and when he wasn’t worried about the Portuguese magician, Kyle Walker was thundering up his flank. The Bournemouth left-back managed seven clearances but gave City the ball back 10 times from a total of 39 touches.

RM: Ryan Christie – 5.77
If you came here for Antony, you’re in for yet more disappointment. Christie was in the wrong place (the Etihad) at the wrong time (matchday) and tasked with the seemingly impossible: helping Max Aarons to shackle Jeremy Doku on City’s left. Just the four assists and a goal for the Belgium winger despite Christie and Ryan’s best efforts.

CM: Tomas Soucek – 5.72
The West Ham midfielder need hope Inter’s scouts didn’t make it to Brentford, where Soucek lost all 10 of his duels in the midfield battle. You almost have to try to be that bad. No tackles, but two fouls which drew a booking.

CM: Philip Billing – 5.71
Back to the Bournemouth train wreck, with Billing almost completely bypassed by the City machine. The Cherries midfielder managed just 19 touches in 71 minutes, giving the ball away half a dozen times while failing to make a tackle.

LM: Marcus Tavernier – 5.44
Tavernier was hooked at the same time as Billing after a similarly anonymous performance which saw the winger give City the ball 10 times. Was dribbled past once, which is still more dribbles than Tavernier attempted himself.

CF: Rhian Brewster – 5.98
The ex-Liverpool wonderkid turned in an underwhelming performance on his second start since returning from a long-term spell on the sidelines before succumbing to another injury at half-time. In 45 minutes, Brewster managed not a shot, key pass, cross or dribble while losing the ball seven times from 15 touches.

CF: Ollie Watkins – 5.88
A rare off-day for Watkins this season, though you could say the same about Villa as a whole at Forest while they suffered their first defeat since the start of September. The Villans’ struggles and Forest’s solidity restricted Watkins to only half-chances in the second half after barely a sniff in the first.

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