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This article is part of Football FanCast's The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more... 

Aston Villa’s game against Arsenal very much mirrored their season so far in the Premier League.

The summer was filled with so much promise and hope as manager Dean Smith splashed the cash on 12 players including the popular return of Tyrone Mings.

Villa took an early lead against the Gunners thanks to John McGinn, in the same way that they did against Tottenham on the opening weekend.

Despite being a man down, Arsenal found a way back to run out 3-2 winners, condemning the west Midlands club to a relegation spot for the first time this season – they have won just one of their six matches so far.

Up until this point, their defence was a positive having kept two clean sheets but individual errors effectively allowed Arsenal to regain control while in attack, they had struggled for goals scoring just four before now.

Though, one of their significant problems could actually lie in the link between the two aforementioned areas of the pitch.

On the Chalkboard

Jack Grealish is the star man in B6. Boyhood fan. Academy graduate. Club captain.

Last season he was an influential figure on their way to playoff glory – in 34 appearances, the 24-year-old scored six goals from midfield and also laid on seven assists.

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This season he has already racked up two assists and that’s in a team that’s struggling too. He could offer so much more that would not only benefit himself and the manager but the whole team too.

He needs to be played further up the field to allow his creative playmaking exploits to bear fruit – he averaged 2.3 key passes last term, but against Arsenal, he could only muster up 40% of his passes in the final third of the pitch.

The heat map below shows the main areas the midfielder frequently controlled during Sunday’s match, and it shows just how underused the entire pitch is and the areas he went missing.

His presence should be more frequent in an attacking role if Smith wants to get the best out of him.

It's something that may also stop him from losing the ball regularly in important positions.

With the way the 48-year-old sets up this team, he can surely afford to push Grealish further forward considering Marvelous Nakamba rarely strays away from defensive midfield. Furthermore, there is also McGinn just behind the number ten role too.