Aston Villa failed to walk away with three points in their latest Premier League outing against Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday.
The Villans spent most of the second half playing against 10 men as Leeds winger Luis Sinisterra was sent off in the 48th minute after picking up a second yellow card.
Despite this, Steven Gerrard’s side were unable to break the home side down, ultimately leaving with a 0-0 scoreline and just one point.
Regardless of the disappointing result, one figure in the team that was a shining light for the Midlands club and his manager, in our view, was Douglas Luiz.
With the whole 90 minutes under his belt, the midfielder has 80 touches of the ball in total and completed 50 accurate passes.
While he managed to make two key passes, set up one big chance and complete the one dribble he attempted, it was the Brazilian’s defensive work that made him stand out on this occasion.
Specifically, Luiz won 80% of the duels he was involved in as well as making three interceptions, two tackles, one clearance and blocked one shot.
This shows that even though his attacking teammates couldn’t get a goal, Luiz played a big part in seeing Villa keep a clean sheet on this occasion, which is something that the club have only managed to do twice this season.
The 24-year-old’s display ultimately earned him an overall match rating of 7.8/10 from SofaScore, making him the joint-highest rated player on the day for Villa alongside Ashley Young.
Hailed by Gerrard as a “wonderful” player, Luiz proved his worth to the manager and the club once again at Elland Road.
In fact, Birmingham Mail journalist Ashley Preece had this to say about the midfielder’s performance in his player ratings.
He said: “In for Kamara in the heart of Villa’s midfield and used the ball well when he had it. Stayed disciplined in there and had to be while Villa’s attacking players didn’t show much in front of him.”
This further highlights how important the player is for Villa and why they should be doing everything they can to get him to sign a new contract at the club, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.
