Five Reasons to be Cheerful as Aston Villa Open 2025/26 Season
The dull summer transfer window was extended onto the pitch at Villa Park with Newcastle United as the visitors. Unai Emery’s side reminded us of why the January additions were so important in breathing some attacking impetus into the side – in the first half, they failed to register a shot. Nonetheless, a point against Champions League opponents despite a red card to Ezri Konsa must be seen as a positive point. Here are the first five reasons to be cheerful as Villa fans for the new season, after its opener.
The Clean Deputy
Despite marking the opening day of the season with an anti-climactic performance, the clean sheet gives Villa’s defence a much-needed confidence boost. In the 24/25 campaign, Emery’s team had to wait until October to record a clean sheet and managed to concede a disappointingly high 51 goals. So, given the positive start to the second half and the spirited defending following on from Ezri Konsa’s red card, there are definite positives to take into the following fixtures.
The defining moment of keeping Newcastle out was the fine early Marco Bizot save from Anthony Elanga, after a keystone cops moment from Villa’s backline. What followed was a performance that suggests Villa now have a far superior goalkeeping deputy in Bizot. While Robin Olsen was liked around the squad, he had the absolute opposite effect on much of the fanbase. With a volatile Emi Martinez likely to miss matches during the long campaign, fans will no longer have to live in fear as the sheriff has a new deputy in town.
Clear Pathway for Takeoff
While the opening day draw against Newcastle United was a tricky opener, the subsequent six matches present an opportunity to gain momentum. While no match is a given, especially with this side’s ability to drop points where you least expect it, the fixture list puts Villa up against Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Sunderland, Fulham, and Burnley. If the team can channel the energy from March, when they managed to put together an impressive run and a knack of grinding out victories, then they can propel themselves into a good position as we head into the Europa League.
Villa’s Home Form
The home draw also marked the 19th league game at Villa Park since the defeat to Arsenal last season, which was also the last time that Villa lost at home in the league, albeit undeservedly. Unai Emery has undeniably made Villa Park into a fortress, and should his side taste success this season, then a strong campaign at home will be the most likely springboard to make that happen.
Timely Ban
The fundamental idea of multiball – essentially extra balls sitting on cones situated around the pitch – is to cut out time wasting and keep the game following. The Premier League in their wisdom banned Aston Villa from having the multiball system in their first three games this season, due to alleged poor execution of it last season. We’d like to thank the Premier League for their bizarre ban, because going down to 10-men, the ban only helped Villa get over the line against Newcastle to keep their unbeaten home run going.
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Fort Knox?
While you’d prefer a transfer window that focuses on quality rather than quantity, there are still a couple of new signings that fans would like to see. Evann Guessand and Marco Bizot addressed two very important chasms in the side but a new right back is still top of many fans’ wish lists.
Enter the link to Héctor Fort of Barcelona, who is being strongly linked to a move to Villa Park. September marks five years since Matty Cash arrived at the club and while no one can deny his endeavour, the club is in desperate need of another option. Should Fort arrive, despite being just 19-years-old, he will hopefully offer a real challenge for the first XI slot unlike the previous incumbents, who have been quickly disposed of by Emery in the PSR wars.
Finally, rumours that Marco Asensio may be returning to Villa Park are very welcome, as the imminent exits of both Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey leave the attacking options feeling a bit too light.
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Great to read something positive. Thanks for this.