How Aston Villa Fared Without Grealish Before Double Game Week 26

02/22/2021 UK

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Aston Villa 1-2 Leicester

Goals: Bertrand Traore (£ 5.9 million) | James Maddison (£ 7.3 million), Harvey Barnes (£ 6.8 million)
Attend: John McGinn (£ 5.5m) | Barnes, Jamie Vardy (£ 10.1 million)
Extra points: Barnes x3, Maddison x2, Traore x1

Double Gameweek 26 messages, both good and bad, abound as Leicester City impressed in their win over Aston Villa.

Two top-flight teams with a couple of games to come next week meant a lot of interest from Fantasy in the game at Villa Park.

And although it was the Foxes who won the game, it was not all pessimism for the locals. Above all, but not all.

A lack of Jack

The backlog was dominated by rumors of a shin injury suffered by 36.9% Jack grealish (£ 7.7 million), with a tweet from FPL Insider detailing the number of Villa players and staff apparently transferring the midfielder out of their Fantasy teams, proving to be deep.

Manager Dean Smith was optimistic after the game, contradicting BBC reports that his talisman will be out for a month.

“We will evaluate it as we go. It is certainly not a recurrence of an old injury and certainly not long term. I hope he is pushing, if not for Leeds, next week. But I’ll be guided by the medical staff. They haven’t told me how long he’ll be out yet, so the speculation is great. We’ll see how everything goes. “- Dean Smith

Smith was far less positive about the news of the leak of Grealish’s injury.

“I found out on social media that there were rumors that I was not going to play. If that comes out of our training ground, I’ll find out where it came from and reprimand whoever it came from. It’s something I wouldn’t be happy with. “- Dean Smith

If the leak were to end up tied to FPL’s transfer activity, it would be a curious case of Fantasy affecting reality, and one that could lead to clubs cracking down on their players and staff involvement in the game. Could that provide Fantasy managers with less information from people like FPL Insider in the future?

Ross No Boss

Grealish’s absence certainly mitigated Villa’s attacking threat, not surprising when the midfielder had been directly involved in half of the team’s goals (six goals, 12 assists) before Sunday’s game.

Your obvious understudy, Ross Barkley (£ 5.9m), he had a completely forgettable game, with zero chances created or shot attempts.

It wasn’t a good afternoon for FPL’s most popular goalie either Emiliano Martinez (£ 5.3m), which received a tap on James maddisonopener (£ 7.3 million) and could probably have done better when his parry of Jamie VardyThe shot (£ 10.1 million) fell to Barnes for what turned out to be the winner.

However, things improved for the home team after a terrible first half, and even if Grealish is missing for more than one match, Villa’s next two opponents, Leeds and Sheffield United, are unlikely to offer the same threat balance. of attack and defensive resolution as Leicester had in abundance.

But there is no denying that Villa is deeply sorry for Grealish’s absence. They have lost all three Premier League games without him since the start of last season.

Leicester Party

Goals from Maddison and Harvey barnes (£ 6.8 million) kept the pair in the top 10 in points scored by FPL midfielders, with the latter adding an assist for a second straight double-digit comeback.

The top bonus meant Barnes finished with 13 points on the day, their best joint loot of the season, as he led the way, with Maddison, for attempts and himself for opportunities created (both four).

Despite nine goals, five assists and a total of points, now one ahead of the 31.2% owned Ilkay Gundogan (£ 6.1m), Barnes is still only in 9.0% of FPL squads.

Goals against teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and now Villa suggest he could be match-proof, which could increase his appeal for Double Gameweek 26 games against Arsenal and Burnley, two teams that have improved their defensive performance in recent years. weeks.

Maddison, meanwhile, is 16.4% owned, although they would not have liked to see their man disappear just after hours at Villa Park, a move Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers explained after the game.

“James Maddison had a problem with his hip last season, so we will evaluate it. He felt a bit of pain, so as a precaution we removed it. ” – Brendan Rodgers

Fatigue factor

Gundogan in shape to start when De Bruyne returns to City XI and Foden falls to bank 1

Leicester played with a speed and intensity that Villa could not bear in the first half but fell after the break, perhaps as a result of their efforts in the Europa League against Slavia Prague on Thursday.

They will be in continental action again midweek and, while next Sunday’s opponent Arsenal will be in the same Euro pot, the current hot streak for the Foxes, who have lost only once since Gameweek 13, will be more difficult to maintain as matches. They keep coming so thick and fast

Luke thomas (£ 4.2m) was excellent as a left-back on Sunday and it would be a steal in a basement with nine clean sheets this season (only three teams have accomplished more) if he can clinch a starting spot that has so far eluded him.

On the opposite flank, Rodgers chose both Timothy’s chestnuts (£ 5.7 million) and Ricardo Pereira (£ 5.9 million), presumably to counter the threat from Grealish.

When that didn’t materialize, Pereira essentially played as a right winger, although it is unlikely that he will be assigned any more out-of-position roles in the coming weeks.

Aston Villa XI (4-2-3-1): Martinez; The Mohamady, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Luiz (Sanson 81), McGinn; Traoré, Barkley (Ramsey 76), El Ghazi (Trezeguet 67); Watkins.

Leicester City XI (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Castagne, Soyuncu, Evans, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans (Choudhury 88); Maddison (Mendy 64), Pereira (Amartey 76), Barnes; Vardy.

Double Game Week 25 so far …

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