Lions' leaky defence has cost Unai's men insists ex-Villa ace

FORMER Villa defender Stephen Warnock has pinpointed the ease with which teams are finding scoring against the Lions recently as a ‘cause for concern’ after they crashed out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage at the hands of Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday.

- By JOSEPH CHAPMAN

Villa were comprehensively dispatched 3-0 by the Eagles, who put four past them earlier this season and hit the Lions for five on the final day of last season; PSG also netted five goals across two legs in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Villa’s hearts were broken in the recent Premier League outing at Manchester City.

While Villa have scored in 28 of their 34 league games to date, they have also only kept six clean sheets in the same period - and two of those came against rock bottom Southampton. Their defensive record was better, at home, in the Champions League but their only shut-outs in the cup competitions came against lower league opponents Cardiff and Preston.