Can Tajon Buchanan use strong start to February to hit new level for Villarreal CF, CanMNT?
Villarreal CF snapped a three-game winless run in La Liga action on Monday, picking up a 4-1 win vs. RCD Espanyol at Estadio de la Cerámica.
With that, they’ve climbed into a tie for third place in La Liga with Atlético Madrid, who they have a game in hand on, although they remain 13 points behind league leaders Barcelona despite this win.
Therefore, while their title dreams are slowly being extinguished, they remain in an excellent position to secure qualification to the UEFA Champions League for a second straight season, something they’ve never done before. A lot can change in the next 16 games, of course, but with a seven-point lead over fifth-place Real Betis, they’re in pole position to secure a top-four spot and the Champions League berth that comes with it (and it must be remembered that a fifth-place berth could still be enough to qualify them, as it did last year).
If they’re to qualify for the Champions League, however, one player they’ll be relying upon to shine over the next few months is Tajon Buchanan, who will be looking to catch fire in the second half of the season.
Because of that, Villarreal will be encouraged to see that Buchanan picked up an assist in their win vs. Espanyol, as he made the most of a 64-minute run as a starter, one where he also had three shots, two chances created and one successful dribble in a lively performance. Having only been thrust into the starting lineup at the last minute due to an injury sustained in warmup, as he was due to start his second straight game on the bench, it’s hoped that this will help him spark his season to life.
Oh là là, Mikau! ๐#VillarrealEspanyol | #LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/FXgW2ipoD0
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) February 10, 2026
Given that it was his first assist of the season, and his first goal contribution since the beginning of December, it’s worth noting how important this could be for him, as goals and assists haven’t perhaps flowed the way he would’ve liked so far this season, as he currently sits with five goals and one assist after this game. 
Considering that he had a hat trick against Girona in the club’s second game of the season, that shows that this recent quiet run has extended beyond the goal he scored at the beginning of December, as he has two goals and one assist in the 28 games he’s played since his three-goal thriller back in August.
๐๐ฎ๐-๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ. ๐ง๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ๐ป ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป. โค๏ธ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/t68YnYjJdG
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 24, 2025
Yet, this further shows why what appeared to be a pretty insignificant assist in a comfortable victory might be a lot bigger than that for Buchanan, as he’ll hope to benefit from the boost in confidence that can come when generating a goal contribution.
Certainly, Villarreal would hope that is the case, because while they’ve continued to cruise along to good results all season, especially in La Liga (they flamed out of the Champions League after losing seven games and drawing one of their eight group stage games), they’re a team that depends on goal contributions from players like Buchanan.
Despite being the team that has scored the third-most goals (43) in La Liga behind Barcelona (63) and Real Madrid (48), no Villarreal player has scored more than 10 goals in all competitions, with winger Alberto Moleiro leading the team with nine goals, followed by Georges Mikautadze with eight goals and Buchanan’s CanMNT teammate, Tani Oluwaseyi, with eight goals.
In fact, Buchanan’s name is pretty high up the list considering how his season has played out, as he sits fifth on the team with his five goals, showing that he could’ve been much higher up that list had he not gone relatively quiet in that department over the last few months.
Tajon Buchanan ๐จ๐ฆ nearly capitalized on the Barcelona miscue! ๐ซฃ #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/4Ihu5epGZ6
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 21, 2025
Then, in terms of assists, Villarreal's top assist generator is Nicolas Pépé with five assists, showing that they haven’t exactly had a chief creator, either.
What that shows, though, is the opportunity that awaits Buchanan in the second half of the season, as he’ll look to generate more final product. That’s not necessarily always been his game since moving to Europe, as his best season in terms of goal contributions was a one-goal, six-assist campaign (all competitions) with Club Brugge in 2022-2023, although it’s worth noting that he played as a full back in that team - he has mostly played as a full back and wing back these past few seasons, it must be remembered.
Yet, that’s why it’s surprising to see Buchanan’s output from this season, as it was hoped that his return to the wing would spark the sort of numbers he had when he last played that position regularly, as was the case in his remarkable nine-goal, six-assist season for the New England Revolution in 2021.
He showed a glimpse of what that could look like last year for Villarreal, scoring one goal and adding two assists in 412 minutes while on loan from Inter Milan, and he had seemed to be on the right track with the hat trick he scored early this year, showing that Villarreal were smart to make his transfer permanent.
For what it’s worth, though, there are signs that more goals and assists could be in Buchanan’s future, so look for him to build on this first assist.
Tajon Buchanan ๐จ๐ฆ was THIS CLOSE to opening the score for Villarreal! ๐ #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/okPBHWDGnU
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 21, 2025
Looking at the numbers before this Espanyol game, he wasn’t generating a whole lot of final actions, as he had just 0.13 xG and 0.09 xA per 90, and an average of 1.31 shots and 0.75 key passes per 90, as he’d want to increase the volume in those areas (showing that his three shot and two key pass effort from this Espanyol game is a step in the right direction).
Certainly, the numbers indicate that he could benefit from a volume approach, as he was generating 0.16 xA per key pass, which is very strong for a winger, while also generating 0.12 xG per shot, which isn’t bad, either. Yet, with his lower shot and key pass numbers, that means he hasn’t been able to turn his quality final actions into more goals and assists due to a lack of quantity. 
Here's Buchanan's radar from this season (from before the Espanyol game), showing that while he's dribbling and defending well, he wants to be more aggressive offensively. But that also shows why it's encouraging to see that he generated the numbers he did against Espanyol, as that's the blueprint for what he'll want the rest of his 25-26 to look like (WyScout)
Because of that, look for him to be a bit more aggressive on that side of the game. He certainly can do that, as he’s continued to get the ball to good areas of the pitch, sitting with great dribbling numbers, and he touches the ball a reasonable amount in and around the box, but he just hasn’t turned those good moments into enough shots and assists.
Tajon Buchanan demostrando que tiene 5๐ de pierna mala.
— LALIGA (@LaLiga) December 10, 2025
LALIGAHighlights | @VillarrealCF pic.twitter.com/OtCTkDbfcy
It’s worth noting, though, that a part of reason for that perhaps might be due to the work that Buchanan is doing off the ball - he has a whopping 7.08 defensive actions per 90, which is quite high for his position - but that’s part of the work wingers must do in the modern game, especially when operating in a 4-4-2 like the one that Villarreal is known for using.
And that’s no small detail, as this is the exact challenge that Buchanan will face this summer when playing for the CanMNT at the World Cup. With Jesse Marsch employing a 4-2-2-2 that doesn’t operate that much differently from Villarreal’s 4-4-2 (although Canada presses a lot more than they do), Buchanan will have a lot of work to do off the ball for Canada, even if he’ll be relied upon to generate goals and assists (and Canada relies on him to do that more than Villarreal does). 
He’s shown to be capable of fulfilling those demands, as shown by the stretch in which he scored four goals and added one assist in five games in June of this year, but much like with Villarreal, he’s also gone quiet at times offensively, going seven games without a goal or assist to end 2025.
For a Canadian team that has struggled to score goals, scoring just five times in their last six games of 2025, they’ll be leaning on players like Buchanan to play a big role in supporting Jonathan David, who remains this team’s key piece in the attack.
What that shows, though, is why Buchanan will look to finish the 2025-2026 season on a strong note offensively for Villarreal. He’s had a solid season, especially when considering the defensive load he’s had to carry, but it feels like there are more goals and assists in his game, and perhaps this Espanyol game will be what he needs to unlock them.
Certainly, Villarreal wouldn’t mind seeing that from him, even if they’ve been pleased with the way he’s defended and taken on players, as they look to finish the season on a high note and return to the Champions League (where they’ve got a lot of unfinished business to attend to in 2026-2027).
