Aston Villa may initiate talks for new Leon Bailey contract after recent form – Three Things learned v Manchester City
Aston Villa recorded their 14th home win in a row as they triumphed 1-0 over Premier League champions Manchester City at Villa Park on Thursday (6 December).
In-form Leon Bailey’s deflected shot gave the Villans a fully deserved victory over Pep Guardiola’s men as their recent slump in form continued.
The result meant Aston Villa usurped Thursday’s opponents into third place in the Premier League table with 32 points from a possible 45 on offer.
Villa were superior throughout against the lacklustre champions, who have now gone four Premier League games without a win for the first time in more than seven years.
Here are three things we at Villa News learned from another rampant win in Birmingham…
Contract extension talks may be kicked off for Leon Bailey
It must be a real surprise for some Aston Villa fans who are now seeing Bailey as the club’s most inform player right now and it’s truly deserved for a man who looked a goner several months ago.
The “amazing” Jamaican international now has three goals and four assists (SofaScore) from his last nine appearances truly encapturing his red-hot form for Emery, but now has recorded five goals and three assists from 13 Premier League games.
Bailey came in for Moussa Diaby against City and completely stole the show with some tremendous individual class and confidence, terrorising left-back Josko Gvardiol and scoring the all-important winner.
As per SofaScore, Bailey registered two key passes, had three shots on target, completed 60% of his dribbles and won three of his duels.
With his contract up in 2025 [Transfermarkt], his form right now will be difficult to ignore behind-the-scenes at Aston Villa and it’s why the club’s board may be tempted to kick off contract talks for the forward in the near future.
He’s already becoming one of Emery’s most crucial attacking components and is also now undroppable.
Villa won’t be able to stop rising interest in Douglas Luiz – but he’s here to stay
In 40 Premier League matches under the manager, Luiz has scored 10 goals and has provided seven assists, giving him a higher combined total than in 114 matches under Emery’s predecessors [Sky Sports, 4 December].
In such a short amount of time, the Brazilian has become one of the Premier League’s most underrated but consistent midfielders and it is of no surprise the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool are keeping an eye [talkSPORT, 1 December] after recent displays.
The Villans won’t be able to stop such rising interest in his services but Luiz has already quelled such rumours stating his commitment to the Aston Villa cause [Sky Sports, 6 December], which is arguably the best news the club can receive all year.
Against Manchester City on Thursday, the Brazilian was at his sublime best once again, becoming the central figure of everything good about Aston Villa, setting the tempo, breaking up play and keeping things ticking over whether deep from his own half or sustaining attacks in the final third.
As per SofaScore, Luiz successfully completed 85 per cent of his passes, registered four key passes, created one big chance, won 60 per cent of his ground duels, completed four long balls and two crosses and he could well have capped off his performance with a goal.
Manchester City may well be regretting their decision to let him leave, given their own issues when Rodri isn’t around – losing all of the four games he’s missed this season, but for Luiz’ part, joining Aston Villa was the best decision of his career.
John McGinn is a man on fire right now
Arguably Emery’s most important player is McGinn and his display against Manchester City certainly showed once again how crucial he is for Aston Villa but also why he’ll continue to be a central figure for whatever success they taste this season.
The Scottish international is making that left-sided role his own and his stats on the night make for some thrilling reading for the Aston Villa faithful.
As per SofaScore, McGinn registered four key passes from open play, completed 100% of his dribbles (5/5), won six tackles, won 14 of his duels, won three fouls and completed 50% of his long balls in one of his best performances of the campaign so far.
McGinn has become a master of his craft under Emery and his ability to use his strength and size to retain possession, especially in dangerous areas makes him such a unique and irreplaceable commodity in the Aston Villa team.
A Versatile, hard-working player who’s constantly setting the tone with the press and is so reliable at squeezing out of pressure and using his size to hold up the ball. A player who never hides in the biggest moments and when the going gets tough.
Every elite-level team in Europe needs one of those. Aston Villa can count themselves incredibly fortunate to possess it in abundance.
In other Aston Villa, one forgotten player may be losing patience with Unai Emery as his bags could already be packed ahead of a January exit.