The early-season performances of Aston Villa are having a growing influence on 2020/21 Fantasy Premier League.
Dean Smith’s side have won all three of their matches, with their 7-2 victory over Liverpool the most eye-catching result.
Villa v Liverpool highlights
Jack Grealish (£7.0m) and Ollie Watkins (£5.9m) were the standout performers against the champions.
Grealish’s two goals and three assists equalled the 2020/21 season-high Gameweek haul of 24 points.
He is now the third top-scoring midfielder in the game, behind only Son Heung-min (£9.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.2m).
Watkins, meanwhile, strengthened his case as a leading budget striker option with three goals and an assist on Sunday evening.
John McGinn (£5.5m) offers a more budget-friendly alternative to Grealish in midfield.
The Scot has returned 10 points in back-to-back Gameweeks, scoring once and providing three assists.
Fixtures to flourish
The upcoming schedule suggests Villa can continue their run of fine performances.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), four of their next seven matches score just two.
They play at home on four of those occasions, entertaining Leeds United, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United.
Case for the defence
Villa also provide strong options at the back, having kept clean sheets against Sheffield United and Fulham in their opening three contests.
Emiliano Martinez (£4.6m) is the top-scoring goalkeeper in the game on 22 points, adding two save points and two bonus points to his pair of shutouts.
Centre-backs Tyrone Mings (£5.0m) and Ezri Konsa (£4.6m) are among the five top-scoring defenders, with 23 and 22 points respectively.
Both have scored a goal, with Mings also supplying an assist.
Also in this series
Part 1: Value strikers thriving at start of season
Part 2: Experts pick out the best budget forwards
