Our team-by-team guide to the new Fantasy Premier League season continues with this preview of Aston Villa.
Don’t forget that you can find official Opta team and player information on the Villans in our Premium Members Area.
2020/21 was a season of progress at Villa as they finished 11th, their highest since 2010/11.
However, the campaign can be split into two distinct parts – with and without Jack Grealish (£8.0m).
GREALISH THE TALISMAN
The 25-year-old missed 12 games after sustaining a shin injury in February, and with Dean Smith no longer able to call upon his talisman, it was a rough few months until his return.
During his absence, Villa mustered a total of 12 points from 36, scoring just 13 goals:
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Goals scored | Goal conceded | |
| With Grealish | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 43 | 42 | 29 |
| Without Grealish | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 17 |
Despite missing a large chunk of the season, Grealish still ranked third amongst all Premier League players for chances created and seventh for expected assists (xA).
It’s also worth noting that his points-per-match average of 5.2 was the best among Villa assets and the 8th highest among Fantasy midfielders.
Villa with and without Grealish is always going to be a big talking point, but do they rely on him too much?
During 2020/21, there was a real bias to create from the left with 41.2% of their chances created arriving from Grealish’s flank, compared to just 27.3% on the right and 31.5% down the middle.
BUENDIA TO ADD CREATIVITY
However, Villa have at least tried to address that issue early in the transfer window, with the signing of Emiliano Buendía (£6.5m) for a fee in the region of £33m.
The 24-year-old played a starring role in Norwich City’s Championship title success last season as he reached double figures for both goals (15) and assists (16).
His eye for goal is encouraging, but it will be the scoring chances Buendía can create for others that is most exciting, which is where the Argentinian playmaker excelled for Norwich amid their top-flight relegation two years ago.
In fact, amongst all midfielders in 2019/20, only Kevin De Bruyne (£12.5m) and Grealish created more chances:
