Aston Villa are battling relegation.

They sit in the bottom three in the suspended Premier League and will be out to secure their survival whenever football in England resumes.

Of course, one has to believe that Jack Grealish and John McGinn have been the standout stars for Dean Smith’s side – scoring 12 goals between them - but who is their leader statistically?

With football off the menu for some time, Football FanCast has delved deep into Villa’s stats to find out!

All stats have been sourced from the club’s WhoScored page, unless otherwise stated.

TACKLES MADE

Soccer Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Everton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - August 23, 2019  Aston Villa's John McGinn and Frederic Guilbert celebrate their second goal   Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine  EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.  Please contact your acco

Frederic Guilbert has been something of a success story for Villa this season, making 27 appearances in total throughout the campaign.

Primarily playing at right-back, he has attempted 101 tackles in the Premier League, with 71 being successful.

That is significantly higher than Marvelous Nakamba, the midfielder with 89 tackles, of which 50 were successful.

John McGinn lags some way back with 71, of which 45 were successful.

MOST TIMES DISPOSSESSED

It should come as no surprise that Grealish loses the ball more often than anyone else, given his role as the chief orchestrator within the team.

Indeed, he has lost possession 46 times, 11 more than McGinn in central midfield.

Did he really play for us?! No Villa fan has managed to name all of these obscure Villans....

As a playmaker, it is his job to get on the ball and try to make things happen – losing the ball is a side effect of that.

Anwar El Ghazi is some way back with 29 dispossessions.

CLEARANCES

Tyrone Mings is a rock at the heart of Villa’s defence.

The defender is the leader at the back for Smith’s side, and has made a colossal 133 clearances throughout the campaign.

Bjorn Engels comes in second with 85, while Guilbert has 58 clearances to his name.

Mings is not an experienced Premier League defender – he has just 40 appearances to his name in the top-flight – but he is clearly already getting to grips with life in the top division.

SHOTS

This is Grealish again, because of course it is.

Villa’s captain is the man to drive them forward and attempt to win matches for them, thus his shot numbers should not come as a surprise.

He has 55 shots on goal throughout the season, while El Ghazi is second with 45, and McGinn is third with 38.

A theme is beginning to emerge.

FOULS

Shrewsbury Town V Aston Villa in a pre season friendly at  New Meadow, with new signing ,Wesley
Sunday 21st July 2019.

This isn’t a defender, surprisingly.

Indeed, Villa’s combative Brazilian forward, Wesley, leads the charts in terms of fouls conceded.

Throughout his time on the pitch, he has conceded 43 fouls to the opposition, while Guilbert lags a little behind with 35.

Villa do need a physical presence up front, however, so Wesley’s way of playing seems to fit in perfectly with the system preferred by manager Smith.

KEY PASSES

Do we even need to type it?

It’s Grealish, naturally, and he is head and shoulders above his team-mates in regards to key passes.

Indeed, he has registered 69 in total, 42 more than second-placed El Ghazi.

That perhaps speaks to a creative void in the team when Grealish isn’t there; he really is asked to do everything for the Villans.

If they manage to avoid the drop, it will surely come down to the inspiration of their captain.

It’s just a shame he can’t thread a key pass through to himself.

Meanwhile, Villa have a star-in-waiting in their U23s!