Feature

2024/25 club preview: Aston Villa

By Alex Keble 4 Aug 2024
Aston Villa

Can Villans make impact in Champions League while also qualifying for the competition again?

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Football writer Alex Keble assesses each Premier League club and their prospects for the 2024/25 season.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa's fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season meant they qualified for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League - Europe's top club competition - for the first time.

They now have dreams of becoming one of the best teams in the world – and supporters are beginning to believe it's possible. 

Why wouldn’t they? Plenty of owners are as ambitious as Villa’s but few so consistently hit their targets, and with the adored head coach Unai Emery in charge, fans have every right to believe things will keep getting better. 

Another busy summer of transfer activity tells us they aren’t about to slow down. 

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Performance last season 

Premier League

Position Pos Club Played Pl GD Points Pts
1 Man City MCI 38 +62 91
2 Arsenal ARS 38 +62 89
3 Liverpool LIV 38 +45 82
4 Aston Villa AVL 38 +15 68
View More

FA Cup: Fourth round
EFL Cup: Third round
UEFA Conference League: Semi-finals

Last five seasons
Season League position 
2019/20  17th
2020/21  11th
2021/22  14th
2022/23  7th
2023/24  4th
Best Premier League finish

Second: 1992/93

See: More about Aston Villa's history

Season aims  

Only with sustained Champions League qualification can Villa begin to bridge the gap to the top, which makes another top-four finish the priority. But supporters are desperate for silverware, having gone 28 years without a major trophy, since they won the League Cup.

As for the Champions League, beating one of Europe's top clubs at Villa Park would be mission accomplished, and yet… who knows? Emery took Villarreal to the semi-finals of the competition in 2022 on a considerably smaller budget. Stranger things have happened. 

Key transfers

It’s been a hectic summer so far. Losing Douglas Luiz to Juventus was a huge blow, but Villa have addressed an ageing squad by signing six players aged 23 or under, the best of the lot being Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen

Ross Barkley is a smart addition, too. But if Villa's reported pursuit of Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix comes off, that’s all anyone will be talking about. 

Villa's key transfers so far
Player Transfer Type Club
Ian Maatsen Transfer In Chelsea
Douglas Luiz Transfer Out Juventus
Ross Barkley Transfer In Luton
Amadou Onana Transfer In Everton
Moussa Diaby Transfer Out Al Ittihad

See: Clubs' summer 2024 transfers

Tactics  

Emery’s Villa are at the vanguard of modern football tactics in their use of "artificial transitions"; baiting the opposition press before spinning around it. 

That’s the standout feature, although their organisation in possession combined with their extremely high line when they don't have the ball, and their incessant proactive and reactive tweaks, are testament to Emery’s unusual tactical gift. 

Injury report
Player Injury Latest Update
Boubacar Kamara Knee Details

See: Latest injuries and news

Pre-season results and fixtures

17 July Walsall 0-3 Aston Villa Report
20 July Spartak Trnava 0-3 Aston Villa Report
28 July Columbus Crew 4-1 Aston Villa Report
1 Aug RB Leipzig 2-0 Aston Villa Report
3 Aug Aston Villa 0-1 Club America Report
7 Aug Aston Villa 3-2 Athletic Bilbao Report
10 Aug v Borussia Dortmund (A) Details

What the manager says

Unai Emery: "The process is clear. We go [to] Europe through the Conference League and we got Champions League. Now it is the highest challenge I can have and we can have at Aston Villa, which is to keep it.

"Keep it in the Premier League, being competitive in the Champions League and, of course, two cups we are going to play are other opportunities to get some trophies. We have to try and be contenders in case in those competitions we can progress in different matches."

Best XI (4-2-3-1)

Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana; Leon Bailey, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers; Ollie Watkins

Opening PL fixtures
Kits
Aston Villa home kit

See: More details at Aston Villa's online store

Where will they finish?

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