This week saw the Premier League fixtures revealed ahead of the 2022/23 season and Aston Villa will be on their travels again for the eighth time in nine top flight campaigns.
Newcomers Bournemouth will be the first task at hand on August 6, a familiar opening day fixture for the Villans.
The claret and blue travelled to the Cherries on match day one back in 2015 and it brought with it a positive result.
A second-half goal from Rudy Gestede was enough to send Villa back to the West Midlands with all three points - the issue being - that was the first and only three points they picked up in that campaign until January 2016.
Now that that’s out of the way - it’s safe to say nobody expects that to happen this time around.
The team that manager Steven Gerrard has started to build looks incredibly strong and the hope is that it will only grow stronger before the close of the transfer window.
Taking into account how things look right now though, here’s how Villa could line-up come 15:00 on August 6.
9. RM - Emi Buendia
Still remains the club’s record signing - for now - and should hopefully feature more next season. Photo: Shaun Botterill
10. LM - Leon Bailey
Bailey may have failed to impress in his short time to date due to niggling injuries but with a full pre-season behind him, I can see him becoming a huge part in Steven Gerrard’s side. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him start at Bournemouth. | Getty Images
11. ST - Danny Ings
Always going to be a bit of a toss up between Ings and Watkins who starts but Ings’ stats show that he’s the most deadly for Villa. He was his own worst critic last year and will be out to prove a point in 22/23. | Getty Images