Aston Villa are still winless from their last five Premier League contests, but Unai Emery‘s men would still have been pleased when picking up an entertaining 2-2 draw against Liverpool mid-week.
Arne Slot’s men had to be bailed out by Real Madrid-linked Trent Alexander Arnold just after the hour mark as the hosts raced into a slim 2-1 lead right before the half-time interval.
There were a number of top performers from Villa’s perspective, with Ollie Watkins stealing the limelight when his side did head in front in first-half stoppage time, among other standout individuals.
Top Villa performers vs Liverpool
Watkins would fire his team into the lead with his only effort on goal of the night, as per Sofascore, as the ex-Brentford man combined well with Lucas Digne down the left channel to then head home past a dazzled Alisson.
Away from that moment of magic, Watkins wasn’t really that involved in play, but Digne certainly stood out away from just assisting the England international, with the former Everton full-back notching up two key passes on top of also completing his defensive duties well with three duels being won.
Likewise, Tyrone Mings – who was filling in for the injured Boubacar Kamara – looked assured against an often frightening Reds attack with possession only squandered three times in total by the experienced 31-year-old.
Moreover, Morgan Rogers also shows brief glimpses of his best against the Reds having been pushed out to the right flank to accommodate for Marco Asensio, with four successful dribbles typically pulled off, although he was far more haphazard when passing with possession lost 21 times.
Whilst there has been plenty of talk that the ex-Manchester City youngster could go for some mega bucks down the line, there was another star for Emery’s men last night that showed he could be a £100m sale one day, having bared similarities to Bruno Guimaraes throughout his Villa Park stay.
Aston Villa’s new £100m-rated star
Amazingly, as Guimaraes continues to go from strength to strength at Newcastle United, a £100m price tag has been placed above his head.
That means Villa midfield ace Youri Tielemans is potentially worth a fee in the same ridiculous ballpark staggeringly, when you consider their similar styles of play looking at FBref.
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Tielemans’ Fbref numbers over the last year vs Guimaraes |
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|---|---|---|
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Stat – per 90 mins |
||
|
Total shots |
1.00 |
1.31 |
|
Shot-creating actions |
3.26 |
4.23 |
|
Attempted passes |
59.58 |
54.74 |
|
Pass completion % |
82.7% |
82.5% |
|
Progressive passes |
6.57 |
7.94 |
|
Progressive carries |
1.05 |
1.53 |
|
Successful take-ons |
0.97 |
1.53 |
|
Progressive passes received |
1.22 |
2.32 |
|
Stats via FBref |
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Indeed, when glancing at the table above, Tielemans and Guimaraes are similar in various different aspects of their midfield games, with the Belgian actually bettering his Magpies counterpart when it comes to pass completion and the amount of passes accumulated per clash.
But, based off his showing against Liverpool, the ex-Leicester City man is also capable of helping his side out in attack, with his second Premier League strike of the season coming against the Reds to match his Brazilian counterpart’s top-flight tally.
Tielemans would smash home this equalising strike after the ball fell kindly to him, bumping his goal contribution total for the campaign up to a hefty six, on top of also standing out away from sending the home masses into momentary delirium.
Come full-time, the 27-year-old would walk off the pitch with 50 accurate passes registered, eight duels won and two successful dribbles managed, further showing off his well-rounded game that’s similar to Guimaraes.
Handed a high 8/10 post-match rating by Birmingham Live journalist John Townley, who stated that the Villa number eight was ‘outstanding’, Tielemans will hope he can continue to impress the more the season goes on.
If he does that, he could go for an astronomical fee down the line, or he could remain at Villa Park for the foreseeable as Emery and Co hunt down another top-four spot.
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