Aston Villa: Douglas Luiz has stepped up his game at Villa Park after Neymar comparisons
Aston Villa star Douglas Luiz has compared his game to Brazilian legend Neymar as well as Real Madrid duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo as he confessed the trio have inspired him.
The midfielder has stepped up his performances at Villa Park and was discussing how growing up in Brazil helped him develop the technical side of his game.
That development has been clear for all to see in the Premier League thanks to his performances under Unai Emery, bringing the inventive Brazilian style to his team.
Speaking on the Premier League YouTube channel, Luiz confessed: “I think it’s helped me so much. The players in Brazil are technically so good, we have so many examples like Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, this has helped me so much.”
Douglas Luiz steps up for Aston Villa
The Brazilian midfielder has been the standout performer for Emery’s team this season alongside Ollie Watkins, and his performances in every game offer something to the team that they would miss if he was not involved.
With five assists and nine goals this season, he has already surpassed his best-ever season in front of goal after picking up six goals and six assists last time out, while a shot-to-goal conversion ratio of 20 per cent is a ridiculously impressive ratio. [Sofascore]
On top of his goal contributions, Luiz has averaged 90 per cent passing accuracy, rising to 94 per cent in his own half, creating nine big chances for his teammates and leveraging 74.3 touches per game with his Brazilian flair making him the focus of their play.
That flair is also expressed by his dribble success average of 64 per cent, drawing 1.1 fouls per game.
The defensive side of his game has also stepped up this year, averaging 1.9 tackles per game, 5.7 recoveries per game and being dribbled past just 0.9 times per game, helping his midfield partners to maintain a solid block.
Looking solely at his individual performance in the 1-1 draw against West Ham, he recorded a 100 per cent dribble success rate, 91 touches, six long passes, two tackles and one key pass in a terrific all-round display. [Sofascore]
It is clear to see how the technical side of his game has been honed this season, with the inspiration from the likes of Neymar giving him plenty of room to push and inspire to improve.
In other Aston Villa news, Ollie Watkins must prove Troy Deeney wrong.
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