Birmingham Live’s Aston Villa correspondent Ashley Preece has slammed Douglas Luiz for his poor performance in the 1-0 loss to Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Poor performance from Luiz

After VAR had overturned an initial penalty decision, judging that Joe Willock had actually been fouled outside the box, Kieran Trippier scored a 35th-minute free kick, which proved to be the winner for the Magpies at St James’ Park.

A number of players went on to receive stark criticism for their performances. It was particularly evident that Steven Gerrard was less than impressed with Luiz, after the 41-year-old was seen screaming in annoyance at the midfielder after the Brazilian opted to play the ball backwards once too often.

Out of an attempted 12 ground duels, Luiz won just four, making only two tackles throughout the game. The 23-year-old also lost the ball 14 times and was dribbled past by Newcastle players on three occasions, feeding into Gerrard’s annoyance.

 The Latest: Preece’s verdict…

Preece slammed Luiz for his poor performance, claiming that the 23-year-old is ‘arguably Villa’s biggest issue at present’.

Taking to Twitter and sharing a link to a corresponding article for Birmingham Live, the journalist proclaimed: “#avfc talking points from that sorry showing up at St James’: Douglas Luiz arguably Villa’s biggest issue at present & Steven Gerrard screamed in annoyance at him opting to play backwards far too often. Watkins also struggling. A massive shake-up needed”.

The Verdict: Struggling for form

Gerrard’s side now have just one win in six league games since Christmas, illustrating a worrying turn of events since the manager’s impressive first month at Villa Park.

Luiz’s place has been under threat recently, with rumours linking the club with Brighton’s Yves Bissouma hanging over the midfielder’s head. The Villa boss recently confirmed that the club had a bid rejected for the Seagulls player in January, and the 41-year-old claimed that he will assess the defensive midfield situation once more ahead of the summer.

Therefore, the Brazil midfielder may need to step up his game if he is to play a regular part in the team next season, with the club seemingly keen on signing a Premier League-proven player in his position.

In other news: These were Aston Villa’s 3 worst players in defeat to Newcastle