Aston Villa’s difficult start to the season has produced a 24-year low after Unai Emery‘s side followed their 4-0 defeat at Brighton with a 1-0 loss against Arsenal.
For the first time since 2002, Villa have lost their opening two league matches of a season without scoring.
That statistic alone is concerning. An even more uncomfortable number sits beneath it.
Villa have not registered a single shot on target across 180 minutes of Premier League football.
The Guardian reported the unwanted 24-year landmark following the Arsenal defeat, with Villa again failing to force the opposition goalkeeper into a save.
Aston Villa attacking numbers collapse after summer overhaul
Context is unavoidable when assessing Villa’s start.
Emery has overseen an enormous transformation following a summer in which Aston Villa made unwanted English football history after six players from their European final starting XI departed.
Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans were among those to leave after carrying a significant share of Villa’s attacking output last season.
The contrast with the closing weeks of 2025/26 is substantial.
Villa ended last season creating chances regularly, but the opening two matches of this campaign have produced zero shots on target.
Brighton restricted Emery’s side to six attempts without one testing the goalkeeper.
Arsenal then repeated the feat at Villa Park.
The performance against the champions was better, but the end product remained absent.
That will particularly concern Emery after he rejected suggestions that Villa should simply accept a transition season following so much squad turnover.
Villa have invested heavily to rebuild. They now need those new pieces to form an effective attacking unit.
Nicolas Jackson offers glimpse of what Aston Villa need
It would be unfair to treat the Arsenal performance as another Brighton-level display.
Villa were considerably more competitive.
Nicolas Jackson and Zion Suzuki both started after Emery handed the pair their Aston Villa debuts against Arsenal.
Jackson produced one of Villa’s most dangerous attacking moments when he dispossessed Gabriel before driving towards the Arsenal penalty area.
His delivery across goal could not be converted, while Emiliano Buendía also struck the crossbar during an encouraging opening period.
The Guardian’s match report highlighted Villa’s improved performance and the chances they created, even though David Raya ultimately completed the evening without making a save.
There were therefore signs of what Jackson could add.
The bigger issue is building an attack around him.
Emery had originally hoped to retain Watkins alongside his new striker. As Read Aston Villa previously reported when Emery’s Jackson-Watkins plan emerged, the manager ideally wanted both forwards available rather than simply replacing one with the other.
Watkins’ eventual move to Al-Hilal changed that equation.
Jackson now carries considerably more responsibility immediately after arriving from Chelsea.
Emery needs attacking connections quickly
There was at least one major positive against Arsenal.
Villa looked substantially more organised defensively.
Suzuki impressed on his Premier League debut, Pau Torres helped keep the champions relatively quiet and Emery’s team remained within one goal until full-time.
But Villa cannot repeatedly ask their defence to produce near-perfect performances while creating so little at the other end.
The club have assembled plenty of individual attacking talent.
Jackson, Alejandro Garnacho and Buendía give Emery different options, while further additions could yet reshape the squad before the transfer window closes.
They now need combinations.
Watkins and Rogers had spent years developing an understanding of Villa’s movements and Emery’s demands. Many of their replacements have only just arrived.
That helps explain the slow start.
It cannot excuse it indefinitely.
Villa were already handed only a 16.2% chance of beating Arsenal before kick-off, so a narrow defeat to the champions is hardly disastrous in isolation.
The wider numbers are harder to dismiss.
Two matches. Zero points. Zero goals. Zero shots on target.
Villa responded to the Brighton humiliation with a much better performance.
Emery’s next challenge is ensuring that improvement finally produces something in front of goal.
