Aston Villa Face Uphill Battle for Top-Four Return in 2025/26 | OneFootball

Unai Emery gears up for his fourth season in charge of Aston Villa after missing out on Champions League qualification last term.

Villa failed to secure a seat at Europe’s top table in 2025/26 as Newcastle United beat them to the punch by the skin of their teeth.

Only goal difference separated the teams after the Lions’ 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on the final weekend. Emery will now return to his favourite European competition.

Commitments in the Europa League will not distract the Birmingham outfit from their pursuit of an immediate return to the Champions League.

However, while their direct rivals have invested heavily in the transfer window, Villa’s market activity has been nothing like their recent ambitious standards.

Time is ticking away as questions mount over whether they’ve done enough to keep pace in the race for a top-four finish.

Without further ado, here’s our Aston Villa season preview for 2025/26.

Aston Villa Fixtures

Villa’s Premier League campaign kicks off with a home clash against none other than Newcastle on August 16.

Their first away game of the season takes them to the Gtech Community Stadium for an exciting meeting with Brentford, now coached by Keith Andrews.

After a relatively straightforward patch in September and early October, Aston Villa take on Tottenham Hotspur (A) in their first high-profile fixture in mid-October.

That road trip serves to get a brutal hat-trick of matches underway, with encounters against Manchester City (H) and Liverpool (A) set to follow.

Emery’s charges play Chelsea on Boxing Day and sign off for the calendar year at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.

Villa’s first league outing in 2026 pits them against Nottingham Forest on home turf, but not until mid-March will they face teams from the so-called ‘Big Six.’

Back-to-back showdowns against Chelsea (H) and Manchester United (A) in March will put their top-four credentials to the test, while their season ends on an equally challenging note.

They entertain Liverpool at Villa Park in the penultimate round before heading to the Etihad Stadium to lock horns with Man City on the final matchday.

Manager

Emery has achieved phenomenal things in Birmingham over the past three years, with Villa’s worst finish under his tenure being seventh in the 2022/23 season.

However, the 53-year-old has yet to win silverware at Villa Park, which will be a priority this term as he aims for tangible success to complement the steady progress he has made.

That may happen in 2025/26, especially now that Villa return to the Europa League main draw for the first time since the beginning of the century.

Emery’s name has been synonymous with Europe’s second-tier competition, having won the crown four times during his trophy-laden managerial career.

Whether he can mount another genuine top-four challenge in the Premier League remains questionable amid Villa’s stuttering transfer business.

Transfers

Villa were among the busiest Premier League teams last summer.

However, they’ve opted for a cautious approach this time, perhaps largely thanks to the fact that they fell short of a top-five finish in 2024/25.

Only three players have joined the club in the first two months of the transfer window.

Veteran goalkeeper Marco Bizot has arrived from French side Brest for an undisclosed fee to replace second-choice stopper Robin Olsen, who left Villa Park as a free agent.

The Lions have also landed 19-year-old centre-back Yasin Ozcan from Kasimpasa for a reported fee of €7 million.

Evann Guessand’s arrival from OGC Nice has been the only high-profile addition to Emery’s team, with the Lions paying the French club around £30.5 million for the 24-year-old forward.

As for the outgoings, young gun Kaine Kesler-Hayden transferred to Coventry City for €4m, while Enzo Barrenechea moved to Benfica on a season-long loan.

It’s also worth noting that Villa failed to sign Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, who spent the second half of last season on loan in Birmingham, significantly derailing their firepower.

There’s still plenty of time for Emery to strengthen his squad.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has emerged as a concrete target for Villa after severing ties with Everton, but he’s on the radar of multiple clubs in the Premier League and abroad.

Villa’s interest in the 28-year-old striker opens up the possibility of Ollie Watkins’ departure, although his rumoured switch to Man Utd is now off the table.

Starting XI

While Emery is nothing if not flexible when it comes to tactics, he seems to have found a model that works at Villa Park.

A 4-2-3-1 formation suits Villa well and should be the Spaniard’s preferred set-up at the start of the new campaign.

Despite Bizot’s arrival, Emiliano Martinez’s place in goal has never been the subject of discussion.

Matty Cash remains the starting right-back, with Ian Maatsen boasting a narrow edge on Lucas Digne at left-back.

After spending most of last season on the treatment table, Tyrone Mings should return to the heart of Emery’s backline to partner up with Pau Torres.

Captain John McGinn has been the midfield anchor for the best part of Emery’s tenure, leaving one place up for grabs in the double pivot.

Although it will likely be Youri Tielemans, it’s hard to discount Amadou Onana as a potential contender for a starting berth.

Higher up the pitch, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers will likely operate on the flanks, with Leon Bailey reduced to playing second fiddle to the English duo.

In this scenario, Ramsey could play in a more central position, allowing new boy Guessand to play on the wing.

Watkins will be unchallenged up front.

(4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Mings, Torres, Maatsen; McGinn, Tielemans; Guessand, Ramsey, Rogers; Watkins.

Star Player

Villa’s scoring output heavily relies on Watkins.

However, the Lions found a new talisman last season in the shape of Rogers.

With eight goals and 11 assists, he was among the best-performing wingers in the Premier League.

Rogers’ rise to prominence at Villa Park also earned him a call from former England manager Lee Carsley in November, testifying to his growing reputation as one of the country’s most exciting talents.

The 23-year-old will be central to Emery’s project, even more so if Watkins waves goodbye.

Prediction

Improving on last season’s sixth-place finish is the ultimate goal, but it’s more of a dream than a realistic target.

With Chelsea heading back to the top and Man Utd and Tottenham seeking redemption, the task is nothing short of Herculean.

Unless Villa do something dramatic towards the end of the transfer window, it’s more likely that they will finish worse in the Premier League table than in 2024/25.

The risk of finishing outside the European zone is imminent.

Predicted finish: 8th.

Watch Aston Villa Live on TV

All 380 Premier League games are shown on Sky Sports and TNT Sports in the UK, while NBC Sports holds the rights to Premier League games in the USA. Aston Villa’s Europa League games will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK. See our Premier League and Europa League streaming pages for more information.

Read Next: Our full Premier League 2025/26 preview (with links to all individual Premier League team previews).