The “unplayable” Aston Villa star who’s now outperforming Jack Grealish

The Aston Villa attacker has simply been unstoppable under Unai Emery.

Aston Villa have lost their last three home games before this weekend’s match, despite Villa Park having grown into a fortress at the beginning of the season.

 

Fortunately, Unai Emery’s team easily defeated Nottingham Forest 4-2 this past weekend, putting that terrible slip-up behind them.

The usual suspects were wreaking havoc, and the Villa attackers in particular put up another outstanding display.

 

But one player carried on his Villa comeback in such a magnificent way that they might have eventually taken Jack Grealish’s place.

Jack Grealish’s stats in 23/24

Boyhood Villa fan Grealish will forever go down as a club legend for the joy he brought to the fans and his heroics on the field.

The England international gave Premier League right backs a lot of grief, and in 2021 he left the Villans. Before joining Manchester City for a reported £100 million, the winger made 213 appearances for the team.

Grealish won the treble in his second season at the Etihad, participating in 50 games, tallying five goals, and dishing out eleven assists.

The tenth player’s season hasn’t quite gone as planned, though, as he missed six games due to a hamstring ailment and most recently developed a groin problem this week against Luton Town.

Grealish has contributed five goals in 27 games in all competitions this season, far fewer than the Villa star who is currently dominating the Premier League.

Leon Bailey’s revival in 23/24

Leon Bailey has virtually completely reversed the course of his Villa career after a difficult beginning to life at Villa

Park. He went from scoring just one goal in his first season to currently being “in

the form of his life,” according to Micah Richards.

 

Bailey, though, has been expertly handled by Emery, and the Jamaican’s

development this campaign has likely been largely attributed to his influence.

Bailey has been so important to the Villans that, in the words of journalist

Jacob Tanswell, he’s “unplayable,” even though he’s only started 13 Premier

League games and averages 52 minutes per game.

 

However, as can be seen from the table below with his season-long statistics,

Bailey has surpassed Grealish by a wide margin.

Bailey’s 23/24 Stats
Competition	Matches	Games	Assists
Premier League	24	8	7
UEFA Conference League	5	1	2
UECL Qualifiers	2	2	1
EFL Cup	1	0	0
FA Cup	3	0	0
Total	35	11	10
Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see, Bailey has been absolutely immense, taking on not just goal-scoring responsibility but also the task of creating for those around him.

In the wide right midfield position, where he can find space to dribble, cut back to the byline, or drift inside onto his stronger left foot to fire, the 26-year-old has finally found his feet.

 

Over the weekend, Bailey was outstanding as usual. He assisted his accomplice, Ollie Watkins, in scoring the first goal and added the fourth shortly after the hour.

The winger seems to be relishing the added competition of Moussa Diaby in the squad, and he’s finally living up to his £30m price tag, even being rewarded with a new contract.