Aston Villa have a simple objective this season: return to the Champions League.
Having graced the Champions League last season and reached the quarter-finals, there is a feel-good atmosphere at Villa Park under Unai Emery.
They missed out on a top-five finish on goal difference that would have returned them to the Champions League, and will compete in the Europa League this term.
Evann Guessand signed last week to bolster Emery’s attacking options after Villa opted not to sign Marcus Rashford or Marco Asensio permanently.
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And while Villa will be aiming for another top four finish, they may have to settle for a Europa League battle instead according to Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer back Aston Villa for another European place this season
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League Alan Shearer cast doubt on Villa’s ability to offer a serious challenge for the Champions League, particularly given their European commitments on Thursday nights.
“I think something similar to last year,” said Shearer. “I think they’ll they’ll be in and around sixth, seventh [place] something like that. I don’t see them having enough to get into the Champions League spots but certainly in a Europa place.”
Gary Lineker agreed, saying: “There’s no reason to think that they they’ll slip from where they are. They’ve got a brilliant coach with great energy that certainly you can’t see that drifting away. So, I would say the same – just outside the Champions League spots, but a European place.”
Micah Richards joined his co-hosts in predicting a Europa League place for Villa.
Ollie Watkins ‘ready to attack’ Aston Villa season
With Marcus Rashford leaving Aston Villa and a relatively quiet summer in the transfer market, Ollie Watkins will be needed to rediscover his 2023/24 form that fired Villa into the Champions League and earned him a place at Euro 2024 with England.
SeasonGamesGoalsAssists2020/21401652021/22361122022/23401662023/245327152024/25541714Ollie Watkins statistics at Aston Villa. (Source: Transfermarkt)
Evann Guessand will offer a new option in attack, but Watkins still aims to be the main man at Villa Park. Speaking after scoring in each of the five pre-season games he played in this summer, Watkins said: “Last season I didn’t play any pre-season games, so I was playing catch up in the season.
“For me it is massive, so it’s nice to get your confidence up and go into the season all guns blazing. We’ve finished on a positive, so it puts us in good stead for the weekend.
“We have got big targets for the season. It’s a big game against Newcastle on Saturday and then we’ll roll on from there.”