Premier League finish, top goalscorer and season preview

2024/25 will be a historic campaign for Aston Villa, who will feature in the Champions League for the first time since the competition’s rebranding over three decades ago.

A sensational season at Villa Park saw the Midlands club secure a well-earned Champions League spot following the continuation of their impressive transformation under Unai Emery. Their early season form proved pivotal to their success in the Premier League.

Villa are looking to build on the sturdy foundations now in place and have gone on a Chelsea-esque spending spree in the summer transfer window. Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana are sizeable additions but talent and depth has been sprinkled across the squad.

Their transfer activity should help them avoid a significant drop-off in the Premier League regardless of their European excursions, with Emery’s men looking to repeat their impressive fourth-placed finish from 2023/24.

Here’s 90min’s preview of an exciting campaign for Aston Villa.

Having been promoted from the Championship in 2018/19 following a surprise relegation, Villa have spent the last five seasons in the English top flight. Narrowly avoiding demotion in their first campaign back in the Premier League, two mediocre seasons followed with 11th and 14th-placed finishes.

However, Emery’s arrival has sparked a revolution. Taking over from Steven Gerrard part way through the 2022/23 season, the former Arsenal coach guided the Villans to an impressive seventh, qualifying for the Europa Conference League. That was improved upon last term, with Villa securing fourth spot after a brief title charge at the start of the campaign.

With an array of new signings, there have been some changes to squad numbers for the 2024/25 season. Notably, Onana has taken the number 24, despite that number already being owned by wantaway forward Jhon Duran.

Ross Barkley has grabbed the number six off the departed Douglas Luiz and Maatsen will wear the number 22, while the former Juventus duo of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea have inherited the 17 and 21 jerseys respectively.