Aston Villa have just received two knockout blows that both goalkeeper Tom Heaton and first-choice striker Wesley have been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury. It is crushing news for Dean Smith’s side as they attempt to avoid an immediate return to the Championship, having just escaped the relegation zone. But now more than ever is the time for local lad and Aston Villa hero Jack Grealish to continue his task of virtually single-handedly keeping his boyhood side in the Premier League.
Based on performances there is scarcely a better player confined to the lower reaches of the English top-flight and his effect on results from midfield are startling. Firstly, he is Villa’s top scorer this season with six goals – already an excellent return on his first season back on the topflight – and he is the second-highest scoring midfielder in the division. Only Todd Cantwell and Harry Wilson, also on six goals, play for sides in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Furthermore, neither Cantwell nor Wilson can boast as many assists as Grealish, who has five after 19 appearances. Only Danny Ings and Teemu Pukki have had a more prolific influence on a side in the lower half of the table’s goals and assists combined, but both of those players are at an advantage to the 24-year-old who occupies a deeper role on the pitch.
If you were to remove Grealish, valued at £31.5m (Transfermarkt), from the Aston Villa side, the effects for Dean Smith would be catastrophic. The Villans would find themselves ten points worse off than their current 21 and would be rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, cut adrift from safety by nine points. Only Ings can even remotely challenge Grealish in terms of his importance to ensuring a side’s survival in the English top-flight, having scored 13 of Southampton’s 25 goals this season.
In truth, if Villa are to survive to face another term in the Premier League next season, they will be indebted to Grealish. The talismanic figure embodies the club and unfortunately due to injury has had the responsibility thrust upon him to continue his outstanding efforts, or the club will only head in one direction.
