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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 withoutJack 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 8thhighest 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 ofEmiliano 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, onlyKevin De Bruyne(£12.5m) and Grealish created more chances:
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FPL Virgin
3 years, 4 days ago
Tom's articles are so good.
I wish him, Neale and David W could write all the articles.
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Moxon
3 years, 4 days ago
Who is the best 7.5m forward?
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Thinkering like a Boss
3 years, 4 days ago
first 3 gw based on fixtures? Watkins for me. Best overall? Iheanacho if he play all games.
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Dogs Of War
3 years, 4 days ago
Watkins with Buendia and possibly Grealish supplying him.
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
Antonio for me if he's healthy
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Ser Davos
3 years, 4 days ago
Watkins then Iheanacho both locked in for me so far
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The Mighty Hippo
3 years, 4 days ago
Watkins, Antonio, Wilson in that order. Jiminez possibly later on if he and Wolves show form.
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
I do like Jimi and would be delighted for him if he returns to form. I'm not a medical person, so I don't know how his presumably recovered skull would create any differences to how his potential should be evaluated. I'm presuming that Nuno's departure and the new manager's tactics would be a more relevant concern.
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The Mighty Hippo
3 years, 4 days ago
He would be a vey good swap for Watkins in gw4, when there is a bit of a fixtures switch.
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mixology
3 years, 4 days ago
See AlsoAston Villa player ratings for 2023/24, Watkins the standout but there’s a 4/10 🏆Villa's Season: A Familiar End and a New Beginning | Aston Villa LifeThe most goals in a Premier League season by an Aston Villa playerShould Aston Villa be taken seriously this season? it's our Season Preview for Steven Gerrard's sideNice find. Hopefully he has no lasting symptoms and continues to be focal point with new manager. An incredible 30+ bonus points in both of his full seasons
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mixology
3 years, 4 days ago
I'm surprised so many are going for Watkins. I like the first 3 fixtures but that's it. He missed so many chances. Yes- he ended up with a very respectable 168 points but he played literally every minute of the season. Perhaps he's more clinical than last season suggested but him scuffing his chances really hurts his bonus accumulation (18 last season).
If he was on pens he'd be in for me but I'm not sold
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Jarnathan
3 years, 4 days ago
How many goals did he score when Grealish was injured vs not.
AND Buendia is now in the squad
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mixology
3 years, 4 days ago
(Respectfully) Not sure, you tell me- as a Villa fan
He seemed very frustrating to own with all the chances he scuffed. Only ended up managing 4.5 points per game.
I don't like his fixtures, besides his first three.
I'd be happy to be proved wrong as he seems durable, which is such an issue for the likes of Antonio and Wilson at that price point and a potential injury transfer waiting to happen.
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The Mighty Hippo
3 years, 4 days ago
A bit like Bamford....not exactly clinical, but playing as the main striker for a team that's likely to create a lot of chances for him. It could all change if Villa sign Abraham of course.
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Dogs Of War
3 years, 4 days ago
If Ings was to make a switch to Everton who would you go for out of him or DCL? Both 8.0m.
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CaptMidnight
3 years, 4 days ago
I'd probably avoid both of them if that happened. I can't see it happening anyway to be honest.
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Gringo Kid
3 years, 4 days ago
None
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
Neither until Rafa shows which one is the right answer.
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Jarnathan
3 years, 4 days ago
Rucharlison
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Stamford B
3 years, 4 days ago
Him any day. But it won’t happen
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King Kohli
3 years, 4 days ago
Compared to the 5.5 and 4.5 defenders on offer this year, do we think that TAA is overpriced at 7.5?
It's basically TAA + mid priced midfielder or Mahrez/Son + Budget defender
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mixology
3 years, 4 days ago
i still tend to think of trent as a 7.5 million price point, regardless of position, although i see your logic.
I expect some budget defenders to have solid seasons, as well as in the upper mid-price bracket (5.5-6). The issue is, without goals and assists it's impossible to return respectable scores out of defenders unless one gets lucky and can rotate budget defenders brilliantly.
Look at someone like Ruben Dias. 1 goal, 1 assist. An incredible 19 clean sheets. Only 142 points. That's less than Soucek. Without a knack for assists/goals, it's hard to get a good enough score out of a defender.
A goalscoring/bonus magnet defender may emerge but it would be a welcome downgrade while already owning TAA, imo. If Robbo and TAA didn't exist, I'd definitely be spending less on defenders and more in attack but I'll enjoy owning them for now. I don't expect VVD to play as many minutes as before so I'll keep an eye on Pool's solidity at the back.
I like the look of Shaw and Chilwell at 5.5 and 6 respectively and when/if an attacking budget defender emerges, it may be worth it to part ways with TAA/Robbo
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
Well said. I've got TAA and a trio of 5.5s and feel like they will either all pay out or will at least allow me to move to any defender I want in one move while freeing up budget to reallocate as the tasty bargains among the defenders emerge.
Avoiding Chelsea defenders at present, but by week six when their fixtures get friendlier and Tuchel's 2021 preferences are known, that's one more place where one can land.
The most productive players at a 5.5 price point are certainly defenders, and the alleged marginal improvement in points compared to the 4.5 price point is rather significant according to the projections posted on this site.
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Jarnathan
3 years, 4 days ago
In order to succeed at this game you have to set up a squad of undervalued players. The problem is that it's impossible to do it for the whole team. Therefore we buy undervalued players so we can afford Captain options and defenders like Trent who will absolutely haul in some games and be highly owned.
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Ser Davos
3 years, 4 days ago
Hello chaps, hope you're well
Set on a pretty template setup, BUT it's that time of year that I've toyed with this backline:
Sanchez • 4
TAA • Dias • Cancelo • RobertsonOpen Controls
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themaindanger
3 years, 4 days ago
That's an expensive back 4.
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Ser Davos
3 years, 4 days ago
indeed. Found a City double up was a powerful weapon when the clean sheets flowed for them
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taz0711
2 years, 12 months ago
Potential to move Cancelo to Zinchenko and save £0.5m, could also save another £0.5m by moving Robertson to VVD.
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themaindanger
3 years, 4 days ago
Yes but double Liverpool and double City defence eats up the £££. What does the rest of your team look like with that defence?
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
I have some reservations about Cancelo. I've been following City since 2004 and watch pretty much every match, and when Cancelo plays I am always left thinking that I've got to have that guy.
Pep seemed to have back burnered him towards the end of last season and there was a lot more Zinchenko going on than I would have wanted to see. I want to give my heart to Cancelo . . . I'm just not sure right now.
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Emiliano Sala
3 years, 4 days ago
in ffs home page, default fixture ticker,
sort by difficulty, brighton has best attacking fixtures
best defence fixtures
3rd overall ?! wtf 😀Open Controls
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Emiliano Sala
3 years, 4 days ago
guess brighton midfielders are problem and can't connect the lines
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Stamford B
3 years, 4 days ago
Wait till they lose all their best players. Pointless doing teams at this stage.
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pingissimus
3 years, 4 days ago
Simple - Brighton aren't allowed to play themselves -that would after all give their attack and defence an unfair advantage. Both Everton and Watford are allowed.
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Emiliano Sala
3 years, 4 days ago
Sorry, I don’t get it
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I Must Break You
3 years, 4 days ago
If the ticker is using the overall, attacking, and defensive strength ratings from the FPL API, that could explain it. I’ve noticed this discrepancy with quite a few teams (Arsenal is another one, but with the opposite effect… their overall home FDR is much stronger than their offensive and defensive strength ratings would indicate). Overall ratings don’t jibe with attacking and defensive ratings..
My theory is that something is wrong with their algorithm, which I think got a bit confused last season when home pitch advantage basically went to zero. I emailed FPL about this and got a non-response response. My hope is that someone figures this out when the season starts, and/or when the home pitch advantage returns with fans in seats, the algorithm will settle back in.
I could be wrong on all of this, but it’s my working hypothesis atm.Open Controls
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Blues for Salah
3 years, 4 days ago
Deviated from some of the "conventional thinking" truisms, and from the looks of the early postings on stat projections I'm not hating the new look. Tell me what I'm missing . . .
Meslier/4.0
TAA, Shaw, Stones, Digne, Brandon Williams (assuming Southampton)
Salah, Son, Barnes, Mount, Gilmour
Bamford, Antonio, Welbeck11 credible choices for 10 outfield slots to cover for COVID, surprise rotation, and to avoid toxic matchups. Ended up spending the extra 0.5 to get Meslier because I didn't see any better place to park the money.
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schlupptheweek
3 years, 4 days ago
I like this team as it is boring seeing the same 20 players and there's some good deviation here. It would be interesting if Toney blanked in the first 2/3 whilst Welbeck or Rodrigo scored twice. The start of the season is a good time to throw some risks given the template changes quickly anyway most of the time. Barnes and Meslier are my favourite low owned players there.
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Nomar
3 years, 4 days ago
I love Meslier as a GK pick. Could end up as the top scoring keeper this season.
I like Welbeck at £6m for a 3rd striker but there seems to be uncertainty at that position for Brighton at the moment.
People are spending the extra £0.5m for Toney because he’s absolutely nailed and is on pens. In the end, as much as I hate the template, I’ll probably go with him just for the actual security of starts.
I like Son too, but it means I can’t have Bruno, so at the moment I’ve gone Son over Bruno.
I’m sure If he goes to Southampton that Brandon Williams will get game time, which is all you can ask from a £4.0m bench fodder defender.
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Jarnathan
3 years, 4 days ago
A great looking team with few players similar to mine.
Do you think Leeds are going to improve defensively? Certainly don't think there will be many clean sheets to start, so perhaps Sanchez is better to start and you may need that 0.5 to upgrade / chase bandwagons.
I'm going to hold off on Son until we know more about Spurs. Barnes has no form right now so again, perhaps a preseason to know more. Is Mount the best use of that cash? Not sure. You could upgrade to Grealish with the 0.5 saving.
Front 3 are great.
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Igor Biscan
3 years, 4 days ago
Hello everyone, long time observer on the site but this is my first post. Been playing fantasy for a good 7 years, usually do well in my mini leagues but best OR is about 40k so looking to push on. Here is my first draft for the season;
Sanchez / Steele
Coufal / Digne / TAA / White* / Lamptey
Maddison/Havertz/Torres /Salah/Harrison
Watkins / Bamford / (Davies)3.5m itb
*Assuming Transfer to Arsenal
A few punts but I like Maddison off the back of a good rest, he returns well when not injured.
Torres could be the go to man upfront for city, if the end of last season is anything to go by? Either him or Mahrez here to start I think…
Havertz OOP seems too good to ignore.
Waiting on Bruno following an indifferent Euros campaign, money itb to allow upgrades.
What’s your guys thoughts? Thanks in advance.
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