In Focus: Returning hero Grealish hoping to defeat Villans

Aston Villa's new boss Steven Gerrard is preparing for his biggest game yet — but it is a former player who will be attracting all the attention tonight.

Jack Grealish became the most expensive British signing of all time when he joined Manchester City for £100million in August and the England star will be back where it all began when he returns to Villa Park.

Ahead of this evening’s encounter, we investigate how Steven Gerrard’s men are faring since the mercurial midfielder’s departure and take a look at his impact at the Etihad so far this season.

Villa for life

After completing his move to Manchester, Grealish sought to appease his former adoring supporters. 

In an open letter, he wrote: "I’ll always be a Villa fan — I love this club with all my heart and I hope you understand my reasons for seeking a new challenge.

"The club are in great hands, the manager, the lads, the new signings coming in — it’s an exciting time to be a Villa fan."

Though the 26-year-old will be desperate to make an impact this evening, it is surely going to be a bittersweet occasion for City’s No10.

Will he start for City?

Grealish has made nine Premier League starts for City, so he has certainly been a regular fixture in Pep Guardiola's starting XI.

But an injury picked up during the recent international break has ruled him out of all three games since — a 3-0 victory against Everton and 2-1 wins over Paris Saint-Germain and West Ham.

Guardiola revealed yesterday that Grealish had only returned to training on Monday, so his involvement could be limited in Birmingham.

Waiting for the Greal deal

To suggest that Grealish has struggled at his new club would be something of an exaggeration, but he has not performed to the peak of his powers for the Premier League champions.

The midfield maestro has only provided two league assists and created just two big chances, placing him joint-18th and joint-43rd in the division respectively.

That is a stark contrast to last season when just Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes contributed more assists than his 10. He was also only behind the latter two for big chances created (14).

But as the old cliche goes, form is temporary, class is permanent — and it is surely only a matter of time before Grealish truly announces himself as a City player.

Villa suffering from a lack of Jack

While Gerrard has made the perfect start to his tenure with two wins from two since replacing Dean Smith, Villa were always going to miss Grealish.

What they have lost in terms of creativity is borne out in the numbers. Last season, en route to finishing 11th, Villa created 403 chances at an average of 10.61 per 90 minutes and 59 big chances at an average of 1.55 per 90.

So far this term, those rates have dropped sharply to 7.85 and 0.77 respectively.

It would have been unrealistic to expect Villa to find a like-for-like replacement for Grealish but one of Gerrard’s most pressing tasks will be to bring the best out of summer arrival Emiliano Buendia — ostensibly the 17-cap international’s successor in claret and blue.

Gerrard's men are finding form but face a side on a run of five-straight wins in all competitions — do not be surprised if amid all the noise, Grealish has the final say.