Ex-Aston Villa ace names one key signing club failed to make in summer transfer window

Former Leicester City player and Aston Villa supporter Marc Albrighton has given his two cents on how he thinks the Villans will perform this season - he believes that Unai Emery’s men will land in sixth place at the end of the campaign.

He thinks that Villa will not ‘have the season that they had last year’ due to their inclusion in this season’s iteration of the Champions League. Nevertheless, he thinks Emery is the ideal man to lead them into such uncharted waters, saying that he has ‘mastered the art of playing in Europe’. Emery currently has four European trophies under his belt - he won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla and one with Villareal.

Albrighton drew upon his own experiences in the Champions League whilst playing for Leicester. After their historic Premier League winning season in 2015/16, the Foxes found it tough to cope with the extra fixtures on their schedule.

Additionally, he wondered if Villa had sufficiently strengthened their squad in the summer transfer window. He feels that Amadou Onana is a solid replacement for the outgoing Douglas Luiz, but feels that they have not bolstered their ranks in any position on the field. Furthermore, Albrighton thinks that the Villans ‘could have done’ with bringing a new striker to the club to compete with Ollie Watkins.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Albrighton said: “It might be the Villa fan in me, but I think they will finish higher than eighth place. I totally agree that I don't think they'll have the season that they had last year, so I'd say they will finish about sixth.

“I think Aston Villa have got a manager there who has mastered the art of playing in Europe. He is experienced and he knows what it takes. He knows how to get the lads to recover and go again at the weekend.

“I don't think that Aston Villa strengthened in terms of the squad. They have lost Douglas Luiz and replaced him with Amadou Onana from Everton, which is a bit like for like, but I don't think they have really strengthened. They probably could have done with another striker.

“At Leicester, when we were in the Champions League, our league form was terrible. At one point, we had the worst record of any team defending the title, because our league form suffered so much.

“Newcastle experienced the same thing last year, because the quality of teams you're playing on a Tuesday or a Wednesday night is of a top level, and then you're then going to the Premier League, which is also top level, and then there’s the travelling and staying over too.

“Players are usually knocking on your door if they aren’t playing in Europe, but I actually experienced the flip side of that - it’s how I got my debut at Villa. I think we were losing the first leg of a European game against CSKA Moscow, so then Martin O'Neill just said, ‘That’s done, we’re not going to win 3-0 or 4-0, so we'll send the kids out’.”