Aston Villa may have addressed the goalscoring issues that overshadowed the start of their season, but they are yet to fix their penalty problem. In fact, it has gotten worse. A 2-1 defeat at Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday ended a run of five straight wins in all competitions, but the result might have been different had Emiliano Buendia converted a 79th-minute penalty. Instead the Argentine drilled his effort over the crossbar and the hosts held out for a famous come-from-behind victory.

It was Villa's sixth missed penalty in the last 12 months and their second in Europe this season after Ollie Watkins missed against Bologna last month. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Unai Emery's side also exited the Carabao Cup with a penalty shootout defeat by Brentford. Since the start of last season, Villa have failed to convert more penalties (six) than any other Premier League side in all competitions. Manchester City and Arsenal are closest to matching them with four each. They've now missed four of five penalties in Europe since returning in 2023-24, with misses coming in all three major competitions.

Villa's lack of confidence from 12 yards was clear when Buendia, despite not having taken an in-game penalty since December 2020, stepped up in place of the already-substituted Watkins. Villa took the lead in the fourth minute through Evann Guessand, but wasted four big chances before their Dutch opponents levelled just before half-time. Buendia continued his impressive recent form, but could not make it a fourth goal in five appearances, having netted the winner at Tottenham on Sunday.

"Buendia has been playing unbelievably, he got the goal after coming off the bench at the weekend," said Michail Antonio on TNT Sports. "Today he was very creative, finding a lot of through-ball passes. Me seeing him step up, I am thinking it's a goal. It's disappointing to see [the miss] but they have to take it on the head and keep moving forwards."

Emery appears to be doing just that as he appeared calm when asked post-match about Villa's penalty woes. "Today the responsibility was for Buendia, and normally he has good numbers shooting penalties, but he missed. Of course, something can happen, and we will try to get more clinical in the penalty shoot than the last penalties we have had. Our takers are clear. Buendia was today, [Jadon] Sancho, John McGinn, Morgan [Rogers] as well can shoot penalties. And, of course, Emiliano can repeat, but the idea is try to be so, so responsible about the decision and about the takers who can score."

Of those other options mentioned by Emery, Manchester United loanee Sancho is the most experienced penalty taker. However, the most recent of his three successful penalties at senior club level came while playing for Borussia Dortmund in February 2021. The responsibility to tackle Villa's problem may well fall to Austin MacPhee, one of the game's most highly respected set-piece coaches. He joined Villa in 2021 under Dean Smith's tenure as manager, and combines his role with a position on the coaching staff of Portugal manager Roberto Martinez.