Douglas Luiz has been one of the standout players in the Aston Villa renaissance under Unai Emery, and he was once again a colossal presence in the first half against Liverpool on Saturday (20 May).

Despite falling out of favour under previous manager Steven Gerrard at the beginning of the season, the Brazilian has moved from strength to strength in recent months, and he delivered a midfield masterclass at Anfield as Aston Villa took a 1-0 lead.

Coming up against a fearsome Reds trio of Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Jordan Henderson in the middle of the park, Luiz more than held his own, dictating play from the offset and keeping things ticking in the middle of the park.

Aston Villa’s decision to reject Arsenal’s approaches for the Brazilian last summer is starting to look like better and better business as the weeks go by.

The 25-year-old was provided with a huge boost prior to kickoff with partner-in-crime Boubacar Kamara restored to the starting lineup after a lengthy injury layoff.

And alongside the Frenchman, Luiz was a man possessed, getting forward into the final third far more often than seen in recent weeks, but crucially helping with Villa’s build-up play from defence.

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During the first half against Liverpool, Luiz provided the crucial cross for Jacob Ramsey’s opening goal, as well as carving open three further key chances. [SofaScore]

One of these was a quite superb training ground routine from a free-kick, in which the midfielder slid in Ramsey with a perfectly weighted pass before Alisson pulled off a strong save.

According to SofaScore, Luiz also completed 100% of his dribbles (1/1), 75% of his ground duels (3/4) and also chipped in with a useful two tackles.

And despite only registering a 73% pass success rate amid Liverpool’s aggressive press, Luiz touched the ball on 36 occasions, which was 14 more than his counterpart Kamara, and over double the amount of John McGinn.

This was an absolute midfield masterclass from Luiz and as close to a perfect 45 minutes of football as any Villa player has delivered all season.

In other Aston Villa news, one Villa sensation has passed the first-team test with a senior role now firmly on the cards.