Aston Villa experienced a perfect weekend back in Premier League action.
Indeed, by comfortably strolling to a 2-0 victory over West Ham United, Unai Emery's men have now opened up a sizeable five-point gap to Liverpool who are stuck in fifth after losing on Saturday away at Brighton and Hove Albion
Aston-Villa-1
This is just the confidence boost the West Midlands giants need, after falling to three defeats in a row in the Premier League, before Emery and Co then made light work of their relegation-threatened visitors.
John McGinn got the ball rolling for Villa when he curled home a delightful opener, with Ollie Watkins then putting the game beyond doubt when he sent Villa Park into raptures with a simple finish.
Watkins would have been over the moon to pick up a goal having stumbled at points this season but it was the midfield that stole the show throughout, as Emery is blessed with an embarrassment of riches centrally.
Aston Villa's midfield stole the show
The best place to start here is with McGinn, who continues to consistently shine for Villa so late into his playing days in the West Midlands.
Alongside breaking the deadlock by beating Mads Hermansen with a sweetly taken strike, the trusty Scotsman would further come off at the end with two key passes next to his name, as Villa constantly pushed forward for more goals.
John-McGinn
Away from McGinn, Jadon Sancho picked up an assist to keep up his Villa resurgence, while Morgan Rogers played a big part in Watkins sealing the three points, as his daring dart forward eventually resulted in the 30-year-old breaking his top-flight goal duck for Emery's hosts.
The holding midfield duo of Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley also impressed, with the unlikely pairing winning 11 duels to preserve the clean sheet, while venturing forward on occasion with confidence, amassing a combined 77 accurate passes.
The top-drawer performances all-round do mean that one certain reserve figure at Villa Park is likely to remain on the fringes, as he put in an unconvincing cameo towards the latter stages of the straightforward victory.
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With Youri Tielemans also back for a brief outing against Nuno Espirito Santo's away side, Emery really does have a plethora of midfield options to choose from between now and the close of the 38-game campaign.
Despite suffering from a disrupted season through injury, the Belgian has a very impressive four assists next to his name in Premier League action, with one key pass even accumulated, from just 23 minutes against the Hammers.
Youri-Tielemans-1
As a result, his return, plus the performances of McGinn, Onana and Barkley are certainly bad news for Douglas Luiz with his return to the Midlands continuing to feel like a drab reunion, compared to the energy he used to provide for Emery's men.
He has fallen down the pecking order, consequently, and with the likes of Barkley gradually improving with a goal against Manchester United, and this battling performance on Sunday, there doesn't seem to be a route back into the first team picture for the one-time Nottingham Forest midfielder, as he made do with just 23 minutes versus West Ham after appearing as a sub.
Luiz vs West Ham
Stat
Minutes played
Goals
Assists
Touches
Accurate passes
Key passes
Tackles won
Total duels won
Luiz would fail to hit a single shot at Hermansen's net when he came on in place of Barkley, as he went on to amass a forgettable 25 touches of the ball.
To further add to his misery, only two duels were won weakly by the out-of-sorts number 21, too, with it looking increasingly unlikely, now, that Luiz will start again for Villa, while his loan deal is still in play.
The Europa League quarter-finalists do have an option to make Luiz's stay permanent, but they might well opt against making this a reality, considering Villa's midfield is already overloaded with very gifted options centrally.
Often, going back in for a former star falls flat, and that is the case with the Brazilian currently, as he continues to fade into the background, while Barkley and many others reaffirm their solid presences in Emery's starting XI.
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