Aston Villa
Villa Park
Aston Villa FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid
The call — Aston Villa: the set-piece monopoly nobody wants Emi Buendía takes the penalties, the free kicks and the corners at Villa Park. Every dead ball this club wins goes through one man, he's nailed, and hardly anyone owns him — barely 1 in 100 managers. On paper that's exactly the sort of quiet value this column exists to find.
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
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↓ Start here — your name, then your team.
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So here's the cold water: our model has Villa's attack down among the league's bluntest — 17th of 20 — and the defence isn't much better, 16th. And the fixtures do them no favours. Hull away and Forest at home look winnable enough, but then it's Tottenham away, Newcastle away and Manchester City at Villa Park inside the next six. Our projections call it a very tough run at both ends of the pitch, and I'm not going to argue.
Which is why the model's actual first name on the teamsheet is Matty Cash. A £4.5m defender who starts every week and takes corners is the definition of money well spent — he plays, he never blanks minutes, and he funds a premium elsewhere. The catch is the same one hanging over the whole club: a defence ranked 16th heading into Spurs, Newcastle and City isn't keeping many clean sheets, so you're buying appearance points and the odd bonus, not hauls.
The rest of the page tells its own story. Villa's midfield is a row of £5.0–5.5m bodies who all start and none of whom is likely to score you much against this run. Jackson up top is priced £6.5m for a team that doesn't create — that's paying for a name, not output. And whoever's getting the good chances here, there aren't many to go around.
The honest read: Buendía is the only Villa attacker worth a second look, and even he's a watchlist name until the fixtures turn. If Villa string together some goals against Hull and Forest, revisit — a £6.0m midfielder on every set piece with next to no owners becomes interesting fast.
The call: don't buy into Villa's attack for this run — park Buendía on the watchlist. If you need a body, Cash at £4.5m is the one honest purchase here: he starts, he's cheap, and he pays for someone better at the other end of your squad. That's the whole trade. Take it or leave Villa alone.