It’s a tick in the box for how Aston Villa have started the new campaign so far.
Despite Aston Villa having to deal with Champions League football, they have only lost one game in all competitions.
That continued at the weekend when Unai Emery masterminded a 3-1 win over Fulham, with several players standing out for the Midlands side.
The men on the scoresheet were Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and an own goal from Issa Diop following a cross from Lucas Digne.
Those players rightfully got plaudits for their efforts, but there is another one who Gabby Agbonlahor was keen to give his flowers to.
Villa’s recruitment was outstanding before Emery arrived and it has continued now he is in the dugout.
But one of Emery’s best signings at Villa was a free transfer last summer when they secured the talents of Youri Tielemans from then-relegated Leicester City.
Youri Tielemans has been Aston Villa’s best player
The Belgium international had extra responsibility on his shoulders this season because Villa sold Douglas Luiz to Juventus.
That meant that the players already in that midfield needed to step up, especially Tielemans because he took over from the Brazilian’s set-piece responsibilities.
It was Tielemans’ cross from a corner that allowed Ollie Watkins to score another headed goal for Villa and, at the time, put his team 2-1 ahead against Fulham before they went on to secure the points.
As a result, Agbonlahor didn’t just name the 27-year-old in his Premier League Team of the Week, but he also thinks he’s been the best player at the club this term, as he told talkSPORT.
“For me, he has been Aston Villa’s player of the season,” said Agbonlahor. “Champions League, Premier League, he turns up. He is consistent. He’s an eight out of 10 every game.
“On the weekend against Fulham, he got another assist off a corner for Watkins’s goal, but his all-round game for me, he gets on the ball, he’s composed, he passes forward. He can always do those hard yards running back as well. He knows he has got a defensive responsibility.
“He has been in sublime form and 100% deserves to be in his Team of the Week.”
Tielemans’ Premier League stats
Tielemans has been a bit of a lone ranger in the middle of the park, in the sense that there has been a lot of chopping and changing around him.
Villa were hit with injury issues before the international break, long-term absentee Boubacar Kamara has just returned to the matchday squad, captain John McGinn returned against Fulham after being out for the last month, whilst Amadou Onana has also been on the sidelines.
That means more miles on the legs for Tielemans and he hasn’t let anyone down, in fact, he is one of the best-performing midfielders in the country.
From tackles won to progressive passes, he is up there with some of the best in the Premier League and it shouldn’t be a surprise, as Aston Villa Statto detailed.
Perhaps the most impressive stat is the 15 tackles he has won because that’s not his game, but as much of a technical wizard that he is, you are also seeing him prove his worth without the ball.
