Despite an excellent win in the FA Cup last week, Villa’s stellar league form has come crashing down with only four points secured from a possible twelve. With trips to Fenerbahce and Newcastle United coming up, this depleted Villa side’s momentum and rosy league position is in danger of starting to gradually wilt. Here are the latest Five Reasons to be Cheerful after a poor display at Villa Park.
Keep Calm and Carry On
Despite the very recent drop-off in league results, Villa have been fortunate that the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool have also dropped a number of points.
The gap to sixth-placed Chelsea is still at nine points, so there is no need to panic just yet. With two inexperienced managers at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford finding their feet, there are likely to be many more bumps in the road for all of the sides vying for the Champions League spaces.
Emery’s Not Happy
In his past couple of pre-match press conferences Unai Emery has been visibly unhappy with events surrounding Villa, namely injuries and the result against Everton. It shows that Emery knows that Villa are really on the cusp of achieving something this season and he doesn’t want things he can’t control to compromise his team’s potential.
Third in the league and seven points off the top domestically, third in the Europa League, and winning a difficult third-round tie at Tottenham in the FA Cup, the season is set up nicely. The injuries of Boubacor Kamara and John McGinn threaten the ceiling of achievement though, as they have both been pivotal reasons for the teams resolve and success this season.
A fired-up Emery will be working overtime to keep the good ship Villa on course.
European Relief
With two matches remaining in the Europa League league phase, Villa currently find themselves in third place with the trickiest of away matches in Turkey looming. Villa need just two points to secure automatic qualification into the last 16 knockout round. As the club established last year in the Champions League, this would save Villa from two potentially difficult knockout phase play-off matches as well as earning the players a much-needed fixture break. If all doesn’t go well in Fenerbahçe, then at least Villa have a relatively winnable final game at home against Salzburg, who sit in 31st position.
Midfield Cavalry
There’s no doubt the strength of Villa’s midfield has been the prime factor this season in both making Villa more defensively sound and scoring many a match-winning goal. With both Kamara and McGinn now potentially expected to be out for the rest of the season, the timing of Amadou Onana’s return from injury could not be better. Although, it’ll be important for him to stay fit and form a tight partnership with his international colleague Youri Tielemans. Ross Barkley should also return in February at some point.
Bringing in Alysson and the returning Leon Bailey, will also hopefully provide Emery with both pace and a different dimension to his midfield.
UEFA Regulation Improvement
The latest edition of the Deloitte Football Money League sees Villa ranked as the 14th highest-earning club in Europe, but most notably sees an improvement in their predicament with UEFA. Villa’s revenue increase in the 2024/25 season saw their turnover-to-wages ratio drop from 96* to 71 per cent. The club should be within last season’s limit of being allowed to spend a maximum of 80% of their income on transfer fees, wages, and agents’ fees.
* Season was a 13-month period due to accounting switch.
UTV
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