DREAM TEAM managers don't need to be told that Aston Villa players are super viable this season.
The Villains have popular assets in every position right now and with good reason.
After ten league games, no team have scored more goals than Unai Emery's side and, in regards to the table, they're just two points behind treble-winners Manchester City and one behind Liverpool.
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However, while it's clear that Emi Martinez (£3.3m), Matty Cash (£3.3m) and Ollie Watkins (£4.7m) are the best options in their respective positions, gaffers are having a hard time settling on Villa's best midfielder right now.
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There's a cigarette paper between Douglas Luiz (£3.3m), John McGinn (£3.1m) and Moussa Diaby (£3.3m) in terms of both cost and total points.
The latter pipped his team-mates on Sunday with an 11-point haul at home to Luton but McGinn wasn't far behind on ten while Luiz registered an assist for a six-point return.
Time for a three-way statistical analysis.
Total Points
- Douglas Luiz - 74
- John McGinn - 71
- Moussa Diaby - 67
It's the Brazilian who leads the way in the metric that matters most having plundered 40 points in his last six outings.
Average Points-Per-Game
- Douglas Luiz - 5.3
- Moussa Diaby - 5.2
- John McGinn - 5.1
A perfect illustration of how evenly-matched these three midfielders have been this term - no wonder Dream Team gaffers are torn.
Goals
- Douglas Luiz - 5
- John McGinn - 4
- Moussa Diaby - 3
Villa's No6 leads the way because he is the club's first-choice penalty taker - that's a bonus!
Ownership
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- Moussa Diaby - 10.2%
- Douglas Luiz - 4.6%
- John McGinn - 1.7%
The Frenchman is comfortably the most-popular of the trio - he's the 14th-most selected asset in his position overall.
This is perhaps slightly curious given he's marginally behind McGinn and Luiz in terms of total points but perhaps the following stats explain his popularity.
Assists
- Moussa Diaby - 5
- John McGinn - 3
- Douglas Luiz - 1
Shots on Target
- Moussa Diaby - 12
- Douglas Luiz - 7
- John McGinn - 6
Big Chances Created
- Moussa Diaby - 7
- John McGinn - 4
- Douglas Luiz - 2
The former Bayer Leverkusen man leads the way in three key attacking metrics, perhaps indicating he'll end up with a considerably greater tally of goal involvements than McGinn and Luiz by the end of the season.
Certainly Diaby is the most attack-minded of the three but midfielders are able to earn points through other methods this season.
Tackle Points
- Douglas Luiz - 11
- John McGinn - 4
- Moussa Diaby - 0
Bonus Points
- John McGinn - 7
- Douglas Luiz - 6
- Moussa Diaby - 0
Diaby's attacking supremacy is offset here and a pair of goose eggs may be a slight cause for concern for his backers.
The Scotsman leads the way for bonus points - a reflection of his all-round contributions - but the fact this is the only metric he tops among the three midfielders probably indicates he's not the optimum choice.
Yellow Cards
- Douglas Luiz - 5
- John McGinn - 3
- Moussa Diaby - 1
It's no surprise that the two more combative players have worse disciplinary records.
Luiz owners may be have to contend with a frustrating suspension at some stage.
So what's the conclusion?
If we absolutely had to choose one of these three fine Villa midfielders we'd probably edge it to Diaby because of his superior attacking threat.
Goals remain Dream Team's primary currency and while Luiz's penalties are a spanner in the works, the fact Diaby is sixth among all assets in his position for shots on target in 2023/24 suggests a greater potential for substantial double-digit hauls.
