With the Premier League season coming to a close, Aston Villa all but clinched a spot in next season’s Champions League after coming back from two goals behind to claim a share of the points against Liverpool. Having picked up a crucial 3-3 draw, another draw in their final league match against Crystal Palace will almost definitely be all Villa need owing to their vastly superior goal difference in comparison to that of Tottenham Hotspur. They’re primed to finish in the top four for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
Villa certainly didn’t get off to a good start. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez scored an own goal to put Liverpool a goal ahead in just the second minute. The Argentinian bobbled Harvey Elliott’s cross, fumbling what should’ve been a relatively simple catch. Ten minutes later, Youri Tielemans scored Villa’s equalizer after being set up by Ollie Watkins before Cody Gakpo would restore Liverpool’s lead before halftime.
Shortly after the break, Liverpool made it 3-1 after centre-back Jarell Quansah scored his first career Premier League goal. As time ticked down, it looked as though Liverpool would be leaving Villa Park with all three points. However, in the final five minutes of regulation time, substitute Jhon Durán scored Villa’s second and third within a three-minute span. The Colombian striker could not have picked a better time to net just his fourth and fifth league goals of the season.
There are several key reasons why the Midlands club have emerged as a genuine force, but undoubtedly the most important of these is Unai Emery. Ever since replacing Steven Gerrard as Villa’s head coach in November 2022, Emery has taken Villa to a level the club hasn’t seen in nearly three decades. When Emery took over, Villa were 16th in the league, in danger of relegation, and appeared to be in for another difficult season.
When Emery started out at Villa, his stock was at its highest point - largely thanks to his achievements during the previous season with Villarreal, capped off by a stunning Champions League upset victory over Bayern Munich. In the almost two seasons since then, however, the Basque coach has arguably topped that. Taking Villa from near-relegation to a Champions League spot in such a short timespan is arguably his greatest feat to date in an underrated coaching career of 20 years that has included four Europa League titles.
Transfer-wise, Villa haven’t done this with any big-name, splashy, expensive signings. This is a carefully-built team which doesn’t have any genuine superstars (though one could make a case for Martínez being one). This is made even more impressive by the fact that many of these signings had initially seemed to have been overpays for players then at smaller clubs - but eventually vindicating Villa who saw these players’ true potential way before anyone else did.
Somewhat ironically, two of the players who have been among Villa’s key acquisitions over the past several years would’ve experienced perhaps the greatest single season ever put together by any football club ever. Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey both left Bayer Leverkusen, who under Xabi Alonso are now just three matches away from completing a season unbeaten in all competitions. However, that takes nothing away from the impact they’ve had at Villa this season.
Finally, we come to Ollie Watkins. At the age of 28, the Devon-born striker is having a breakout season with 19 goals and 13 assists in the league. Watkins is a lock to be selected for England’s Euro 2024 squad. Heading into this season, there was absolutely no indication that a jump like this was coming. Yet, now that the season is coming to its end, Watkins has established himself as arguably the league’s second-best centre-forward, only behind Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
There’s no reason why Watkins can’t keep it going heading into next season. With the team around him, the tactical setup, and perhaps even psychologically boosted by a Euro 2024 title to his name, it isn’t out of the question that Watkins separates himself from the pack and pulls well clear of Alexander Isak and Dominic Solanke next season.
There’s no question that Aston Villa have easily surpassed all expectations this season. Not only that - everything is set up nicely for Villa to keep things going next season and again make the top four. After years of struggle, things haven’t been this good at Villa for a long time.
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