Ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season, Alex Keble takes an in-depth look at each of the 20 clubs.
Aston Villa
Villa are a club haunted by near misses in the Premier League era. The sense of frustration and fading hope has been common enough in B6 to instil a sardonic gallows humour that comes naturally to a Midlands fanbase. Yet pessimism is nowhere to be found this summer.
Villa Park is a grand old stadium made for the European stage, yet it has hosted only five continental matches this century. Funny, then, that so many supporters and neutrals alike believe Villa can lift European silverware next May.
That’s the power of the Unai Emery revolution; of record-breaking form in 2023, record-breaking signings this window, and a return to European competition for the first time in 11 years.
Performance last season
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | +19 | 62 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +5 | 61 |
| 8 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +7 | 60 |
| Competition | Performance |
|---|---|
| FA Cup | Third round |
| EFL Cup | Third round |
PL performance last five seasons
| 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champ | 17th | 11th | 14th | 7th |
How to improve on 2022/23
When Steven Gerrard was sacked last October, Villa’s season looked to be in tatters. Nine points from 11 Premier League matches left them outside the bottom three on goal difference alone, with the break for the FIFA World Cup fast approaching. What happened next is scarcely believable.
A 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Emery’s debut set the tone, and from there Villa won 49 points from 27 league matches under the new regime, squeezing into seventh on the final day. Wins kept coming, records kept falling and by the season's close only Manchester City had won more points in 2023.
See: How Emery led Villa from the relegation fight into Europe
Most points in 2023
| Form | Club | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCI | 22 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 53 |
| 2 | AVL | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 43 |
| 3 | MUN | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 43 |
| 4 | ARS | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 41 |
| 5 | LIV | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 39 |
| 6 | BHA | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 38 |
Villa were almost flawless under Emery despite his mid-season arrival. A full summer on the training ground with their infamously demanding head coach should yield even greater rewards.
At times last season Villa did lack the prerequisite technical ability to sculpt attacking moves from deep, something already addressed in the transfer market, while there is perhaps an over-reliance on Ollie Watkins in attack. Their Expected Goals (xG) numbers were a little low, so there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Key transfers
Villa’s decision to give Emery more control over transfer policy this summer is paying off. That move has been emphasised by the club’s appointment of Monchi, who worked with Emery at Sevilla, as their new sporting director.
See: Who is Aston Villa's president of football operations Monchi?
The addition of Pau Torres from Villarreal has raised a few eyebrows, if only because he plays in the same position as Tyrone Mings, who has been magnificent since the managerial change. Emery clearly, however, wants to improve Villa’s capacity to build out from defence under pressure, and Torres has been used as a left-back in pre-season.
Moussa Diaby, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for reportedly a club-record fee, is an upgrade on Leon Bailey, injecting much-needed pace and directness into a Villa attack that favours counter-attacks and transitions under Emery.
Youri Tielemans, who arrived on a free transfer from Leicester City, completes a trio of signings in the Emery style: all three look to play in straight lines, searching for the progressive pass at every opportunity.
Tactics
Emery holds long - very long - meetings with his players, poring over video footage to reveal opposition flaws and new tactical nuggets. He is fastidious and obsessively prepared, hence the huge variations in Villa’s playing style despite the same basic 4-4-2 formation being deployed each week.
In broad terms, the core idea is to lure the opposition forward and invite the press, before spinning around it and galloping into the final third as if on the counter-attack. Off the ball, Villa are more conservative than most top-10 sides, using a high defensive line but compressing space centrally, rather than pressing manically onto the opposition.
Put together, it’s easy to see why Emery teams do well in Europe. Diaby and Tielemans ought to help with Villa's brutal, risk-averse defensive set-up, punctuated by fast transitions.
Reasons to cheer
Newcastle United finished two points below Villa in the league table taken from Emery’s first match in charge, so supporters can rightly dream of a challenge for the top four.
The Europa Conference League offers the chance of Villa’s first silverware since 1996, and with West Ham United lifting the trophy in May, it stands to reason that three-time Europa League winner and two-time finalist Emery can go all the way.
Reasons to fear
West Ham’s success came at a price, of course, dropping from seventh in 2021/22 to 14th spot last season. The Thursday-Sunday schedule could take its toll, especially since it will deny Emery full weeks to pore over the data for upcoming Premier League opponents.
There’s also the simple reality of bubbles bursting, of Villa’s incredible form through 2023 showing minor signs of statistical over-performance. Regression to the mean is on the cards, but frankly unlikely given how well the club have recruited.
Opening six matches
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A trip to Newcastle is the perfect opener to test whether Villa can push on in 2023/24, although Emery would surely have wished for an easier start.
Everton (H) and Burnley (A) offer a chance to rack up points, before Liverpool (A), Crystal Palace (H), and Chelsea (A) complete a fairly tough opening six matches.
Predicted XI v Newcastle
4-4-2: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Torres; Diaby, Luiz, Kamara, McGinn; Watkins, Buendia.