Aston Villa FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid

Aston Villa: cheap, nailed, and still not worth it

One player takes Villa's penalties, their free kicks and a share of their corners, costs £5.9m, and fewer than 1 in 10 managers own him. That's Buendía, and if there's a Villa route in at all right now, he's it. But let's be honest about what the ticket actually buys.

Our model has Villa's attack down among the league's bluntest — 16th of 20 — and their defence isn't bailing anyone out either, ranked 17th. That's a team offering neither goals nor clean sheets, and the fixture computer hasn't done them any favours: Spurs and Newcastle away, City at Villa Park, United away to close the run. Brentford and Fulham at home are the only games you'd circle, and Villa's numbers say even those aren't gimmes.

The one thing Villa do offer is my favourite currency: minutes. McGinn, Buendía, Barkley and Kamara have all started every week, and none of them costs more than £5.9m. McGinn tops our model's pecking order — he's on corners, he never blanks on minutes, and at £5.4m he's the sort of player who quietly returns 2-3 points a week without ever ruining your Saturday. The problem is that's roughly all he does. Nobody in this squad projects better than about three points a game over the next six, and a player who starts every week but scores like a bench fodder pick isn't value — it's just reliable disappointment.

Word of warning on the defence too: Mings looks tempting at £4.5m, but he's started once. Lindelöf is the one actually playing. Either way, a back line ranked 17th facing City, Newcastle and Spurs is not where your clean-sheet money goes.

Would anything change the call? A kinder fixture swing after this run, or Villa's attack showing signs of life against Brentford and Fulham at home. Buendía on every dead ball at £5.9m with almost no ownership is the kind of thing that becomes a lovely differential — later.

The call: avoid. Don't buy into Villa for this six-game stretch. If you already own McGinn or Buendía as a fifth midfielder, hold — the minutes are safe and a sideways move wastes a transfer — but spend no new money here. Your budget slots buy more elsewhere.