Douglas Luiz makes Boubacar Kamara admission ahead of Aston Villa v Manchester City
Douglas Luiz has praised “incredible” Aston Villa team-mate Boubacar Kamara for giving him more freedom to express himself on the field.
The Brazilian midfielder has started all 14 of Villa’s Premier League games in what has been a superb campaign to date under Unai Emery.
As per WhoScored, Luiz has started eight of those games as a pure central midfielder, and the other seven in a more defensive midfield role.
Kamara has started all but one of Villa’s league games, meanwhile, the exception being the draw with Bournemouth last week due to suspension.
In their most recent league outing together – the gripping 2-1 win at Tottenham – the pair linked up in central midfield to great effect.
Luiz assisted Pau Torres’ goal and registered a team-high 94.1% pass-completion rate, while his 66 touches went unmatched [WhoScored].
The midfielder’s overall pass-completion rate this term is at a career-high 89%, placing him among the best in the Premier League in that regard.
Kamara did more of the dirty work against Spurs, with his three fouls a joint-high, while he kept playing ticking along nicely with his 46 passes.
There is no doubt that the pair get the better out of each other, as Luiz himself said in an interview with Sky Sports [6 December].
“It is two years now that I have been playing with Kamara,” said Luiz, who joined from Manchester City in a £15million deal in July 2019.
“He’s an incredible player and he has given me a bit more freedom to get forward and do the things that I like.”
Luiz really has come into his own in recent months, particularly with regards to his passing ability, as highlighted by FBref data.
The 25-year-old has completed 59 passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this term – a progressive increase from the past five seasons of 35, 39, 43, 46.
Having Kamara as a safety blanket alongside him is paying off, with Luiz registering more goals and assists combined per 90 (0.52) than ever before.
For added context, that figure was as low as 0.17 two seasons ago, showing just how Emery has managed to tweak things to get the best out of him.
As long as he has “incredible” Kamara for support, there is no reason why he cannot continue to improve on those figures.
In other Aston Villa news, a pundit believes a punishment could be incoming after “ugly” recent scenes.