Aston Villa has been one of the more pleasant surprises of this Premier League season. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Villa is now in the eighth spot in the table . On Sunday, the resurgent squad from Birmingham had a chance to make another statement against third-place Leicester, but Villa was without star midfielder Jack Grealish, who was dealing with shin splints. To make matters worse, Leicester was able to plan for Grealish’s absence. How could that happen in the secretive world of European soccer? Fantasy sports, of course.
Two days before the game, three Villa players (Matt Targett, Conor Hourihane and Neil Taylor) and two staffers dropped Grealish from their Fantasy Premier League lineups.