Aston Villa Spent over €170 Million on Transfers: Can They contend for the title?

Aston Villa Spent €176.2 Million on Transfers – more than any other team in Europe this summer. Emery's club outspent Bayern, Lyon, and United. Will the expensive acquisitions help them perform successfully in the new season?

Bookmakers still do not highly rate Aston Villa's chances of winning the Premier League. However, a top 4 finish looks quite realistic, and a top 6 finish is almost a done deal.

Aston Villa to finish Premier League odds

Winner

50/1

Top 4

3/1

Top 6

27/20

Aston Villa Squad

Clearly, Aston Villa is aiming to improve on last season's performance. But according to some figures from 23/24, there is a significant gap between third and fourth place in the Premier League. Liverpool scored 10 more goals than Villa and conceded 20 fewer. While Arsenal conceded twice as few goals as the Birmingham side.

The manager is pretty happy with the goalkeeper Emiliano Matrinez stay with the team having 8 clean sheets last year. While the majority of the transfer funds were spent on strengthening the defense to reduce the number of conceded goals.

The key figure is defensive midfielder Amadou Onana from Everton. Averaging 3 interceptions and 2 tackles per match and winning about 60 percent of his duels, he is exactly what Villa needs to strengthen the midfield and link defence with attack.

Aston Villa's transfers during the off-season

The rising star from Juventus Samuel Iling-Junior is expected to provide significant support to Ollie Watkins with his runs down the left flank. The best assistant of the last season, Watkins stays with the squad. And with 19 goals last season his odds to win the Golden Boot next year are 16/1 .

Aston Villa's Tactics and Formation

Based on the dynamic and aggressive style that Emery is instilling in the team, the formation 4-2-3-1 will be chosen for most matches of the Premier League and National Cups. In this formation, the two defensive midfielders (primarily Onana and Tielemans) will provide protection and control of the midfield, while the three attacking midfielders will create opportunities for Watkins and, depending on the match, for Dobbin, Illing-Junior, or Archer. The team excels in direct attacking play, ranking among the top clubs in the Premier League for direct attacks. So this is another distinctive feature we will observe in the next season.

In European competitions, Villa may adopt a more cautious approach, particularly in away matches. The tactical flexibility to switch between a 4-2-3-1 and a 5-4-1 formation could be employed to reinforce the defense against stronger opponents.

At the same time Emery's experience in European competitions will likely see Villa in some matches implement a more intense pressing strategy to disrupt the build-up play of opponents. This could involve higher positioning of the forwards and midfielders to create turnovers in dangerous areas, maximizing the impact of players like Onana and Bailey.

Aston Villa Betting Odds

The new Champions League format implies an increase in the number of matches. Despite the appearance of some underdog teams in the tournament and the fact that Aston Villa's bench has significantly expanded, it will be challenging for the team to compete on multiple fronts. Advancing to the Champions League playoffs is highly questionable with 50/1 odds to win the competition.

However, in the Europa League and Conference League, considering Emery's reputation, the prospects for the Birmingham side are less uncertain. In case it qualifies to take part in the competition of course.

16/1