Aston Villa FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid

Aston Villa: the value is in midfield — and nowhere else

Start with the ugly bit: our model ranks Villa's defence dead last in the league. Twentieth of twenty. Pair that with a run that includes Newcastle away, Manchester City at Villa Park and a trip to Old Trafford, and you can file every Villa defender under "do not touch" for the next six gameweeks. Mings looks tempting at £4.5m until you notice he's started just twice — a cheap defender who doesn't play is the most expensive thing in FPL. Lindelöf is at least starting every week, but a nailed spot in the league's leakiest back line is a reliable route to one-pointers.

So is there anything here worth buying? Yes — but only at one end of the pitch, and only at the right price. The attack is middle-of-the-pack rather than frightening, and the fixtures don't help, but Villa's two nailed midfielders are the sort of unglamorous value this column exists for. McGinn tops our list: five starts from five, on corners, £5.4m, and owned by barely 2 in 10 of nobody — call it hardly anyone. He's not going to go massive, but he plays ninety minutes and chips in, which is precisely what a fifth-midfielder slot should cost.

Buendía is the shinier version — penalties, free-kicks, corners, also starting every week — and on his day he's the one who hauls. If you want the upside, he's the pick, and at under 1 in 10 ownership nobody else will have him. Our model still leans McGinn as the steadier buy, and I'm constitutionally inclined to agree with it. Jackson shares penalty duty but the projection is thin for a £6.5m forward in an attack this ordinary — pass.

What changes the call? The fixtures do, eventually. Brentford at home, Fulham at home and Sunderland at home are the games these players earn their money in; the City and United fixtures are where you accept the blank and move on. If Villa start keeping the ball out of their own net, revisit the defence. Until then, don't.

The call: avoid every Villa defender and the keeper. If you need a cheap midfielder who actually plays, buy McGinn at £5.4m; if you'd rather pay 50p more for the set pieces and the bigger days, Buendía is a fair punt. One of them, not both — this is a squad slot, not a project.