Aston Villa: Douglas Luiz like Kevin De Bruyne claims stunned Jamie Redknapp
Douglas Luiz was in outstanding form for Aston Villa against Sheffield United to leave his job done by half-time at Bramall Lane.
The Brazilian was a huge part of the reason why Unai Emery’s side were 4-0 up and cruising at the break on 3 February, allowing the Spaniard to withdraw his star midfielder with the game already won.
He outdid his season averages over 90 minutes in various creative categories from just one half of play as the Blades were overwhelmed before the interval.
His assist for the Villans’ second, dispatched by Ollie Watkins, was the stand-out moment of his 45-minute performance, leaving Jamie Redknapp falling over himself to praise the pass on Sky Sports, claiming it would have been one of Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne’s “greatest ever” had the Belgian produced it.
It was a measure of Luiz’s day at Bramall Lane that he outperformed his average mark per-game in the Premier League this season, a campaign which has already seen him shine, in assists, expected assists (xA), and key passes despite playing one half, while also having a higher pass completion percentage.
Luiz up there with the best in the world for Aston Villa at Bramall Lane
According to FBref stats the 25-year-old is expected to, and does, assist 0.13 goals a game each in the top flight this year, while SofaScore numbers on the day show his xA was 0.48, and assists was one – the expertly-provided “sexy” pass for Watkins which overjoyed Redknapp so much.
FBref measure his “shot creating actions” at 3.35 per 90 minutes in the Premier League this term, while SofaScore recorded four key passes in 45 minutes, largely the same stat [SofaScore], putting him on course for eight had he played the whole game.
While it is indeed easier to maintain a higher pass completion percentage the less time spent on the pitch, for good measure he did misplace just two of his 31 against the Blades (94%) to better his average of 84.4% significantly.
Redknapp could hardly contain himself live at half time on the Sky Sports match coverage (6.26)pm, saying of the outside-of-the-foot pass for Watkins: “This is football. This is what I want to watch with players. Douglas Luiz just lends it there, gets it back again, and this is one of the best passes you could ever see.
“If Kevin de Bruyne would have done this pass we would be talking about it as one of his greatest ever assists. Unbelievable…
“Just the pass, look at the way he flicks it with the outside of his foot, it’s magnificent, what a pass.”
He went on to describe it as: “Sexy, Kelly [Cates], look at it. It’s a PlayStation pass. It’s one of them where you get your head up, you see it, but can you execute it? The answer is absolutely yes, and it’s a devastating finish as well, but what a bit of football, I love it.
“We see De Bruyne do it but here you see Douglas Luiz.”
The Aston Villa star has been heavily-linked to Arsenal for a number of transfer windows [ESPN, 27 November], but Emery is reaping the benefits of him staying at Villa Park.
He has a way to go to match two-time Premier League Player of the Year De Bruyne on a more regular basis, but it was an outstanding display from the former City player in the middle of a strong team performance and highlighted his importance to this side.
World Cup-winning keeper Emi Martinez has been called the best in the world before, but against Sheffield United at least Luiz appeared to be on that level.
In other Aston Villa news, a BBC Sport pundit hopes the club can keep hold of an attacking star long-term amid links to a European giant.
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