Aston Villa vs. Hull City: Community player ratings results

Given how dominant Villa were for the first hour of their 2-1 win over Hull City, it's something of a surprise that the ratings aren't much higher than they were in the previous league game, a 0-0 draw against Newcastle United. But the last half hour was an uncomfortable reminder of how poor this team can be when they're put under significant pressure, and the Tigers were so inept up until their somewhat fortunate equalizer that Villa having the run of play should have been the expectation. Still, the ratings weren't poor by any stretch, and for the third straight game below-average marks were few and far between.

Brad Guzan - 7.07 rating, 0.76 standard deviation

Guzan didn't have much to do for most of the day, but he came up big with a few saves late to preserve the win for Villa. There wasn't much that could be done about Hull's goal, and in every other instance Guzan was a brick wall. About all you can ask for from your keeper.

Alan Hutton - 7.09 rating, 0.91 standard deviation

Alan Hutton's string of strong performances continued against Hull, once again locking down his side of the field and looking lively going forward. Whether this level of quality is sustainable remains to be seen, but so far this season Hutton looks like a completely different player.

Ron Vlaar - 7.14 rating, 0.68 standard deviation

Writing Ron Vlaar's section of these writeups is going to get pretty boring pretty quickly at this rate. Once again, Villa's skipper barely put a foot wrong; of all of the positive things that happened during this transfer window, hanging on toe Vlaar was probably the most important.

Philippe Senderos - 7.12 rating, 0.78 standard deviation

Lots of people were skeptical of Philippe Senderos-and that's understandable on many levels-but he's come good as of yet. It's clear that playing alongside Vlaar is beneficial; a lot of Senderos' upside can be obscured because without such a steady partner he can become a liability. That hasn't happened as of yet, and if Senderos keeps turning in these kinds of performances he could end up being the bargain of the summer.

Aly Cissokho - 6.79 rating, 1.02 standard deviation

That Cissokho's weakest outing so far rated well above-average should tell you all you need to know about how good he's been this season. Aly didn't offer as much going forward and had a few minor lapses in defense that didn't amount to much, but this was yet another solid outing.

Charles N'Zogbia - 5.97 rating, 0.97 standard deviation

Charles N'Zogbia had a very Charles N'Zogbia game, showing flashes of brilliance and moments of immense frustration in equal measure. It's the price of admission for a player that offers a skillset unlike anyone else on the team, and if the mistakes can be kept in this range it's well worth the potential upside.

Fabian Delph - 7.33 rating, 0.75 standard deviation

Maybe Delph's best outing of the season, which is saying quite a bit given how good he's been in all three games. Delph bossed the midfield in his typical fashion and was Villa's main creative engine for much of the first half. It's quite fortunate the club didn't give up on Fabian a few years ago, because he's finally delivering on his immense promise. Now, about that contract extension...

Ashley Westwood - 6.78 rating. 0.7 standard deviation

Ashley wasn't quite as sharp as usual in terms of creativity, but he did typically well in terms of keeping possession and making a nuisance of himself in the defensive phase. It will be interesting to see where Westwood lands once Tom Cleverley and Carlos Sanchez are in shape to start games, because he's making it quite difficult to take him out of the lineup.

Kieran Richardson - 6.48 rating, 0.83 standard deviation

The Richardson as (nominal) attacking midfielder experiment continues, and it's going okay. Kieran still isn't doing much in terms of chance creation, but he's working his tail off and facilitating things, even if it's not in the standard fashion. It's not anyone's ideal long-term solution, but it's hard to fault his effort or the efficacy of his performances so far.

Andreas Weimann - 7.52 rating, 0.83 standard deviation

A fantastic game from Andi, his best in recent memory. The industry is ever-present, but the quality can be lacking at times; in this game, he was as sharp as he's ever been. An excellent showing in every respect.

Gabriel Agbonlahor - 7.81 rating, 0.79 standard deviation

Gabby earned the highest mark of any Villa player, and doing so was well deserved. This was the Gabby of old, terrorizing the back line with his pace, work rate and determination to put the keeper under pressure, but the strength and ability to punish defenders with physical play he's added to his game in recent seasons was there as well. As good as Villa were as a team in the first half, Gabby stood out. It's been awhile since that's been the case.

Carlos Sanchez - 5.78 rating, 0.96 standard deviation

This wasn't a very good showing for Sanchez, and his rating seems a bit higher than I would have expected. There weren't many positives that stand out, and he had some bad giveaways as well as a pretty needless foul that led directly to Hull's goal. Not something worth being concerned about going forward, but not a great day all-around.

Jack Grealish - 7.04 rating, 1.05 standard deviation

Grealish was the only real positive for Villa over the last half-hour of the game, but watching him frustrate Hull into committing foul-after-foul was a thing of beauty. (As soon as he popped back up, at least.) Fans always want to see the kids play-at least until they've seen enough of them-and Jack certainly didn't hurt his cause with this outing.

Darren Bent - 5.18 rating, 1.03 standard deviation

I remember two things Darren Bent did in his brief time on the pitch; get caught off side needlessly on what could have been a very good chance to put the game away and put a not-especially-simple-but-not-exactly-difficult finish just outside of the far post. I/m sure he did other stuff, but I don't remember any of it and frankly that probably means he was otherwise okay.