Douglas Luiz plays a “horrible side” in the Aston Villa draw against Bournemouth, leaving Lee Hendrie speechless in the face of Arsenal’s proximity.

Douglas Luiz’s all-action display as Aston Villa drew away at Bournemouth caught the eye as the midfielder was heavily involved throughout the afternoon.

On a day where Unai Emery’s side were strangely undercooked, and the Brazilian’s midfield teammates John McGinn and Youri Tielemans

had average afternoons, the outcome at the Vitality Stadium could have been a lot worse on 3 December without him.

It arguably could have been better as well and even led to an unlikely win if not for one of the negative aspects of his 103-touch afternoon

Heavily involved offensively in the first half Luiz had four shots but his one big chance, and his only one on target, was saved when he should have scored moments before the break from a cut-back by Leon Bailey.

It was defensively that he was at his best however as he made three tackles and won seven ground duels (of 13) according to SofaScore stats.

He did concede possession 15 times but his reactions to rectify mistakes and win the ball back stood out, and wowed ex-Villa man Lee Hendrie.

In the ninth minute on Sunday he was caught on the ball in midfield and Bournemouth broke towards the Aston Villa box, but Luiz reappeared to regain possession and pass it on.

Hendrie reacted live on the world feed match commentary (2.09pm): “Absolutely brilliant. He continues to have an absolutely unbelievable season doesn’t he, scoring goals? But that’s his bread and butter, getting back, doing the horrible side of the game and having quality amongst that is absolutely phenomenal.

You remember Pep Guardiola when Aston Villa first signed him talking so highly of him, well I think that speaks volumes of how good a player Aston Villa and Unai Emery has.”

Coupled with his 91% pass-completion on 76 passes, which would have been perfect were it not for long balls and crosses which found an opponent, it showcased his best qualities in the centre of the line up, and negated some of his high giveaway number.

But with ESPN reporting on 27 November that Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Arsenal have made the Aston Villa man their “leading target” in January Luiz likely didn’t dissuade that interest either by doing the dirty work in midfield.

It was all the more necessary that he did so when the defence on the day was a mess and his teammates in the middle weren’t on top form.

After three bids were rejected two summers ago, Villa signed a new contract until 2026, seemingly putting an end to Emirates interest. However, it looks like they are considering it once more.

Luiz had the opportunity to score against the Cherries to increase his tally of Premier League goals to five, but his prospective successor for Thomas Partey at Arsenal will

The two areas of his game that need the most improvement are passing and ball winning, which he excelled at in the 2-2 draw over the weekend.

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