Aston Villa got promoted through a heart stopping playoff final which was thoroughly deserved after an impressive season. Despite possessing one of the largest and most devoted fanbases in the country, this season will still be a fight for survival as they look to create a foothold in the league where a club as big as they are surely deserve to be.
Current Position & Performance Level
Villa currently occupy 11th place. After making 12 signings in the summer to try and boost the chances of staying up, Dean Smiths’ biggest challenge this season was always going to be to make the players gel with the other new arrivals, as well as with the existing squad.
One thing that this can do is it can give an added impetus to those who achieved the original promotion to up their game so that they can keep their spot, whilst it can also backfire if they don’t end up gelling. After losing the lead to Tottenham on the opening weekend and losing poorly at home to Bournemouth, things looked bleak for The Villains after just two games as the players they brought in looked shell shocked. Then came a small bright spark in the win against Everton, before they lost to Palace, then drew against a 10-man West Ham and then lost another lead away to 10-man Arsenal. It looked all over before it began for the The Claret and Blue until recently, a draw against a tough Burnley side and that thumping 5-1 win away to Norwich last time out will hopefully put some wind into their sails though. Keeping this momentum will be important because after that comes City and Liverpool before the huge Black Forest Derby against Wolves and if they take any points from those games, the team will count themselves supremely happy.
Manager Performance
Dean Smith was not the preferred candidate for many when he took the hot seat, but he fulfilled the fans expectations of the club by bringing them back to the holy land of the Premier League. He has done well to get quality homegrown talent Jack Grealish back to playing his best football yet after a difficult period and made some astute loan signings last season, plus some good-looking business this summer just gone. If he can keep Villa up, it will be looking very rosy next year for the man many grumbled about before his team even got onto the pitch.
Predicted Finish
Villa have been looking gutsy this season and, if they can keep Villa Park on their side, I truly believe that they can keep themselves up, I’m going for a 14th place finish. This will mean that they are close in the running right up until the end but I see them securing their safety before the last day, maybe even a few weeks before.
Strongest and Weakest Points
The strongest point of Aston Villa’s season so far has to be the performances of Jack Grealish, as mentioned previously. He has been an absolute warrior on the pitch, driving the team forward and making himself the centre of attention as the captain always should. I was worried at one point of his career that he may not achieve the potential that he looked to have in him from a young age, but he has thoroughly impressed me this season with his maturity and constant will to carry his team on.
The weakest part of this Villa side for me is their defence, despite the great signing of new England international Tyrone Mings for big bucks in the summer. They have lost leads in 3 of their 8 games and must improve in seeing out wins if they are to survive, especially against 10 men as they did away to Arsenal.
Possible January Signing
One name that I have heard thrown around is that of Eric Dier at Tottenham. Dier has only made 3 appearances for the London side so far this term and could be a quality answer to Villa’s defensive troubles. After having spent £130 million in the summer, the board could be wary about shelling out even more and, being an England international, Dier could prove costly in the current transfer market, so maybe a loan could also be possible with an eye on a transfer next season.
