Aston Villa 2026/27 Premier League preview: Odds, squad and predictions

Last season's Premier League finish

• Aston Villa's 2025/26 Premier League finish: 4th

After a disastrous start to the season which saw them take six games to register their first win, Villa's 2025/26 campaign turned out to be arguably their best in modern history.

Emery's men recovered to enjoy a run of 12 wins in 13 games over the winter months to catapult them into a surprise title race, before falling away slightly but eventually securing fourth in the league.

But their crowning moment undoubtedly came in Istanbul in May, when Villa won their first European trophy for 44 years by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final, ensuring it is a season which will live long in the memory.

Premier League history

Squad and key players

Villa have lost three key men this summer, with Youri Tielemans moving to Manchester United before Morgan Rogers joined Chelsea for a British-record £117million fee, with left-back Lucas Digne also departing for Paris Saint-Germain.

The rebuild is already underway with the signings of Johan Manzambi, Joao Gomes and Alejandro Garnacho, with a few more signings likely before the window closes.

The Villans have still kept hold of a number of other key men, with Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Ollie Watkins still at Villa Park, while Emiliano Buendia will hope to repeat his heroics of last season after scoring a number of crucial goals, including a stunner in the Europa League final.

Watkins remains their key man up front, with the 30-year-old 14/1 for the Golden Boot after netting 16 times last season. He may finally become part of the Premier League 100 club this season, with the England international currently on 91 since signing from Brentford in 2020.

Aston Villa 2026/27 Premier League squad

Manager: Unai Emery

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez, Marco Bizot, Joe Gauci, James Wright, Oliwier Zych

Defenders: Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Victor Lindelof, Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Ian Maatsen, Lino Sousa, Modou Keba Cisse

Midfielders: John McGinn, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, Joao Gomes, Ross Barkley, Emiliano Buendia, Lamare Bogarde, Johan Manzambi

Attackers: Ollie Watkins, Tammy Abraham, Alejandro Garnacho, Leon Bailey, Evann Guessand, Samuel Iling-Junior, Alysson, Brian Madjo

Predicted XI

• GK: Emiliano Martinez

• RB: Matty Cash

• CB: Ezri Konsa

• CB: Pau Torres

• LB: Ian Maatsen

• CM: Boubacar Kamara

• CM: Joao Gomes

• RW: John McGinn

• CAM: Johan Manzambi

• LW: Emiliano Buendia

• ST: Ollie Watkins

Predicting how every Premier League team will line up in 2026/27

Key Fixtures

After the Super Cup final against PSG, Villa kick off their Premier League campaign away to Brighton, before the welcome Premier League champions Arsenal in a difficult first home game of the season.

They visit Tottenham in mid-September before facing Manchester City and Manchester United within the space of two weeks in October and November. The Villans play Coventry in a potentially feisty all-Midlands clash in December, with Chelsea and Liverpool among their opponents over the Christmas period.

The start of 2027 looks slightly easier with Man Utd the most difficult of their first eight games of the year, before Chelsea and Liverpool come back-to-back in late February and early March.

Villa's run-in looks particularly difficult, with games against Arsenal, Newcastle, Man City and Tottenham in their final seven matches.

Aston Villa Premier League prediction

Villa may struggle to match their achievements of last season after losing so many key players and having a Champions League campaign to juggle, but with Emery in charge they are always a contender for the European places.

With many other clubs changing their squads and managers much more than Villa, we think they still have enough for fifth, which is one lower than last term but still likely to be enough to qualify for the Champions League again.

Prediction: 5th

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All odds and market details are accurate as of the time of publication.

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