Aston Villa enjoyed a fantastic second half of last season which coincided with the sacking of Steven Gerrard and the appointment of Unai Emery.
Before Emery took charge Villa were hovering above the relegation zone, but come the end of the season they'd achieved their highest-place finish in over a decade. As they finished seventh, Villa qualified for the Europa Conference League. It will be the first time that the club has competed in European football in 13 years.
That now means their fixture calendar intensifies, which has seen the board bring in some exciting talent to the squad.
How far can that talent take them is to be determined but is it foolish to write their chances of a top-four finish off?
MORE: Premier League 2023/24 fixtures
Premier League top four odds
| Man City | Arsenal | Liverpool | Man United | Chelsea | Newcastle | Spurs | Aston Villa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetMGM (USA) | -3300 | -250 | -188 | -120 | +138 | +150 | +333 | +750 |
| Sports Interaction (Canada) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Top Betting Sites (UK) | 1/16 | 1/3 | 8/15 | 8/13 | 6/4 | 13/8 | 7/2 | 7/1 |
| Unibet | 1.07 | 1.37 | 1.58 | 1.73 | 2.63 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 10 |
| Dafabet (India) | 1.07 | 1.37 | 1.58 | 1.73 | 2.63 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 10 |
Aston Villa 2023/24 prediction: Too much competition for top four?
Breaking into the top four of the Premier League is arguably one of the toughest challenges in world football.
To do so, Villa would have to outperform the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. Along with the other challengers, Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford.
Emery has brought in Moussa Diaby, Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans this summer which should bolster the squad depth in order to compete in both the Conference League and Premier League.
Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of French international Moussa Diaby! ✍️
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 22, 2023
For the last four seasons in a row, Diaby has 10+ goal contributions in the Bundesliga at Bayer Leverkusen and has already hit the ground running in the preseason.
How the squad manages to perform on a Thursday night and then straight into a league clash on Sunday afternoon is yet to be determined and has taken its toll on teams in the past.
However, Villa can take inspiration from the likes of Newcastle and Leicester over the last few years, who did break that 'big six' barrier and qualify for Champions League football.
Under the Spanish boss, Villa won 49 points from 25 matches, a points-per-match average of 1.96, which was the fourth-best in the Premier League since he joined.
If they were to keep that fourth-best points-per-match average for the entire season, they would qualify for the Champions League. Never say never?
Have Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League before?
Villa have never played in the Champions League, however, they have been crowned European champions.
In 1982 they defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 in the European Cup final after a goal from Peter Withe in the second half.
Under Martin O'Neill between 2007 and 2010 they qualified for the Europa League in successive seasons after finishing sixth in the Premier League.
Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | — | |
| Hong Kong | — | Now TV |
| India | Star Sports | Disney+, Hotstar, JioTV |
| Malaysia | Astro SuperSport | Astro Go |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport | Sky Sport Now, Sky Go |
| Singapore | StarHub | StarHub TV+ |
| UK | Sky Sports, TNT Sports | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime |
| USA | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | Fubo, Peacock |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
