Stiliyan Petrov: John McGinn Can Lead Villa Out Of Slump

Aston Villa return from the third international break of the season hoping to end a winless run of five games.

A 2-0 defeat at Liverpool was their second in a row in the league and Unai Emery's side has dropped to ninth in the table. 

Villa are favourites with football betting sites to beat Crystal Palace at home on Saturday and Stiliyan Petrov expects midfielder John McGinn to lead his former club out of their current slump. 

McGinn is a key figure for this Villa team. When the midfielder plays well, Villa play well.

Petrov is backing the Scot to do what's best for the team at the expense of his own performances.

"John is a great human being, a great footballer and a great captain," Petrov told Gambling.com in an exclusive interview. 

"He leads the team in a perfect way. I do think John can show even more. He's got the potential to show more; score more goals and have more assists.

"This is what I expect from John, because he's got the capability to do it. 

"But what I've seen, especially in recent months, is that he does sacrifice some of his game to help others and act as a good captain. Sometimes people don't see that. 

"But I watch pretty much every game and I do see it. Sometimes it's painful for the player, but when you're captain, you have to sacrifice and he certainly does that."

McGinn returns to club duty after scoring in each game for Scotland during the international break, which saw the Scots beat Poland 2-1 three days after a 1-0 win over Croatia at Hampden Park on Friday night.

Villa need McGinn to be at his best if they are to beat a Palace side who have won just one league game this season. 

Petrov puts the poor run down to a congested fixture list, which includes mixing it with the best clubs in Europe in the Champions League.

"It’s maybe a mini-crisis, but it's normal when you play so many games," Petrov said. 

"Unai Emery has done an incredible job. Unai, his staff, the players - they've been amazing.

"The fans have supported the club perfectly. They've got the right results and they’ve got nine points in the Champions League. 

"You expect teams when they're playing at such a high level to drop in performances at certain times, and I hope that the manager will find the solution and will turn everything around.

"They still have a chance to qualify straight to the knockout stages and if they can manage to do that, then you never know. In the knockout stages anything can happen." 

January will be Emery's fifth transfer window as Villa boss and Petrov is not expecting wholesale changes to the squad.

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The current squad looks settled, but with aspirations of going far in the Champions League and finishing in the top four, Petrov isn't ruling out new signings. 

"When you’re fighting for the top four in the Premier League and you’re in the Champions League you have to strengthen in every area," Petrov said. 

"This is probably the highest level of football, and when you have those demands, you have to strengthen. 

"And I'm sure that the club are working on it."

Villa are one of two former European champions that Petrov has captained. Celtic are the other.

During his time in Glasgow, the Bulgarian enjoyed great success playing for manager Martin O'Neill, who helped transform Petrov's career. 

O'Neill has not managed since June 2019 when he was sacked by Nottingham Forest, the club he helped win the European Cup with in 1980.

Petrov is convinced the Northern Irishman will continue to charm TV audiences with his views on the game.

"Martin is a great, great manager," Petrov said. 

"He gave me a new lease of life when he came to Celtic and I’ve followed him since then.

"When you have a manager like that, you appreciate it. We've got plenty of stories, but I'll just keep my mouth shut and respect the gaffer. 

"I don't think he will return to management. After the last two conversations we had, he's got a different role now and I think he really enjoys it. 

"He's on every TV station as well, so he's a media darling or whatever you call it.

"He deserves it for everything he's done in football. He's a great man and human being. Really smart. Strange humour, I would say, but we love him."