Aston Villa fans were still trying to recover over the crushing disappointment of losing the playoff final at the start of last season.
There was a hangover from that body blow which eventually saw Steve Bruce lose his job. His replacement, Dean Smith, took some time to get things going but when he did, Villa played some very good stuff.
Smith led his boyhood club to playoff redemption and back into the Premier League and having spent a fair deal of money, Aston Villa look as though they are going to stay.
Aston Villa Premier League Betting Odds
As ever with a newly promoted team, Aston Villa’s first job is to earn enough points to stave off the threat of relegation. The bookies clearly believe they are well placed to do just that given that Villa are just 2/5 to stay up.
Aston Villa Outright Betting Odds
Wolves set the standard for all promoted sides to try and live up to last season. Aston Villa don’t quite have the quality of their rivals from the Midlands but they, too, should quickly find their feet in the Premier League. Still, anything other than a bottom half finish at a general 1/8 would be a surprise.
Aston Villa Team Info & Stats
Aston Villa Tips and Predictions
Pundits and fans are expecting fairly good things from Aston Villa this season, at least in the context of a team who have just come up from the Championship. With expectations relatively high, it’s tough to find too many tempting outright betting optinos to try and profit from a solid season from Villa. Backing them to finish ahead of Southampton is one such option whilst a bet on Wesley to be their top goalscorer is sensible at 6/4 with William Hill.
Aston Villa Team Leaderboard Stats
Check who are the top leading players for the leading categories on the Premier League for Aston, just click on the ‘Goals’, ‘Assists’ and ‘Cards’ tabs to see the top players for each category.
Aston Villa Transfers
Aston Villa were busy in the transfer window. Here’s their summer dealings:
Players In
| Player | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Wesley | Club Brugge | £22.5m |
| Tyrone Mings | Bournemouth | £20m |
| Douglas Luiz | Manchester City | £15m |
| Matt Targett | Southampton | £14m |
| Ezri Konsa | Brentford | £12m |
| Marvelous Nakamba | Club Brugge | £11m |
| Trezeguet | Kasimpasa | £9m |
| Anwar El Ghazi | Lille | £8m |
| Bjorn Engels | Reims | £7m |
| Tom Heaton | Burnley | £8m |
| Jota | Birmingham City | £4m |
| Kortney Hause | Wolves | £3m |
Players Out
| Player | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Ritchie De Laet | Antwerp | Free Transfer |
| Tommy Elphick | Huddersfield | Free Transfer |
| Albert Adomah | Nottingham Forest | Free Transfer |
| Garry Gardner | Birmingham City | Undisclosed |
| Glenn Whelan | – | End of Contract |
| Alan Hutton | – | End of Contract |
| Micah Richards | – | Retired |
| Mark Bunn | – | End of Contract |
| Ross McCormack | – | End of Contract |
| Mile Jedinak | – | End of Contract |
Aston Villa Current Squad
| Player | Age | Nationality | Market Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lovre Kalinic (goalkeeper) | 29 | Croatian | £5.8m |
| Orjan Nyland (goalkeeper) | 28 | Norwegian | £2.7m |
| Jed Steer (goalkeeper) | 26 | English | £2m |
| James Chester (defender) | 30 | Welsh | £7m |
| Bjorn Engels (defender) | 24 | Belgian | £5m |
| Tyrone Mings (defender) | 26 | English | £4.5m |
| Ezri Konsa (defender) | 21 | English | £4.5m |
| Kortney Hause (defender) | 24 | English | £3m |
| Matt Targett (defender) | 23 | English | £6m |
| Neil Taylor (defender) | 30 | Welsh | £3.5m |
| Frederic Guilbert (defender) | 24 | French | £5.5m |
| Ahmed Elmohamaday (defender) | 31 | Egyptian | £2.7m |
| James Bree (defender) | 21 | English | £900k |
| John McGinn (midfielder) | 24 | Scottish | £6m |
| Conor Hourihane (midfielder) | 28 | Irish | £6m |
| Dougas Luiz (midfielder) | 21 | Brazilian | £2m |
| Aaron Tshibola (midfielder) | 24 | Congolese | £1.35m |
| Henri Lansbury (midfielder) | 28 | English | £1.35m |
| Brikir Bjarnason (midfielder) | 31 | Icelandic | £1m |
| Jack Grealish (midfielder) | 23 | English | £22.5m |
| Jota (midfielder) | 28 | Spanish | £4.5m |
| Anwar El Ghazi (midfielder) | 24 | Dutch | £7m |
| Andre Green (midfielder) | 21 | English | £2m |
| Trezeguet (forward) | 24 | Egyptian | £5.5m |
| Wesley (forward) | 22 | Brazilian | £18m |
| Jonathan Kodija (forward) | 29 | Ivorian | £8m |
| Scott Hogan (forward) | 27 | Irish | £3m |
| Keinan Davis (forward) | 21 | English | £2m |
| Rushian Hepburn-Murphy | 20 | English | £900k |
Aston Villa Honours & Records
Premier League/First Division: 7
Champions League/European Cup: 1
Europa League/UEFA Cup: 0
FA Cup: 7
League Cup: 5
Most Appearances: Charlie Aitken – 657
Highest Goalscorer: Billy Walker – 244
