Premier League football is back and Aston Villa begin the 2023/24 calendar with a trip St James Park to face Champions League outfit Newcastle United. Here’s all you need to know heading into the Villans’ season opener…
Words by: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Both sides will look to build on last year’s successful campaigns with a victory on the opening weekend of the season. Eddie Howe’s Magpies finished fourth last time out and will play among Europe’s elite having qualified for the UEFA Champions League, whilst Unai Emery’s Villa will compete in the UEFA Europa Conference League after a spectacular seventh place finish.
The two clubs have been busy splashing the cash and improving their squads over the course of the summer as they each prepare for their respective European adventures. Newcastle have spent approximately £125 million on AC Milan’s Sandro Tonali, Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes and Southampton’s Tino Livramento, and have sold forwards Allan Saint-Maximin and Chris Wood for around £38 million.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, have spent approximately £75 million on Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby and Villarreal’s Pau Torres, also bringing former Leicester City talisman Youri Tielemans to Villa Park on a free. In terms of outgoings, Ashley Young was released and joined Everton, Marvelous Nakamba left for Luton Town – where he spent the second half of last season – and Wesley Moraes has signed for Stoke City on a permanent deal.
The two clubs have had a busy summer schedule in regards to preparations too and have both played a series of friendly contests over the last few weeks. Emery’s side played against the likes of Walsall, Lazio and Valencia, and Howe’s men faced up against Gateshead, Rangers, Fiorentina and Villarreal.
Additionally, the two teams were involved in the Premier League’s Summer Series tournament in the USA; also across the pond were Fulham, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford. Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues came away victorious but both Newcastle and Villa remained undefeated in their three games.
When the two sides met in Philadelphia last month, it finished 3-3, with Ollie Watkins opening the scoring and Emi Buendía bagging a brace. Elliot Anderson, Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson bagged United’s goals in an entertaining affair at the Lincoln Financial Field.
There were contrasting outcomes during last season’s league meetings between the two teams, with Newcastle running riot and defeating the Villans 4-0 at St James Park in October and Aston Villa putting in their performance of the season at home to beat the Magpies by three goals to nil in April. Saturday’s game on Tyneside is perfectly poised – who will come out on top?
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Aston Villa’s Emi Buendía is expected to miss the majority of the upcoming season having significantly damaged his knee ligaments during Wednesday’s training session. The club confirmed that the number ten has undergone a scan and will receive further consultation with a knee specialist in the coming days.
Phillipe Coutinho, Leon Bailey and Jaden Philogene are among the names in contention to replace Buendía in the starting line-up ahead of this weekend’s fixture on Tyneside and it is believed that Unai Emery will look to the transfer market for further reinforcements, with Galatasaray’s Nicolò Zaniolo a name being heavily linked.
Fellow midfielder Jacob Ramsey is currently sidelined too, having picked up a foot injury during his time away at the U21 European Championships with England. Ramsey played a key part in the opening three group games, before breaking his metatarsal bone during the 1-0 victory over Portugal in the quarter-finals where he left the Stadion Ramaz Shengelia (in Georgia) on crutches. The 22 year-old is targeting a return to action next month after the international break.
Defender Álex Moreno is also unavailable for this weekend, after receiving surgery towards the back end of last season. Moreno, a January signing, suffered a hamstring strain in the penultimate game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield and is expected to miss the start of the 23/24 campaign as a result. Lucas Digne is in line to take his place in the side, although new singing Pau Torres could shift from his natural central role to cover his compatriot in the claret and blue back-line.
During Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Unai Emery confirmed the absence of four other first team players, including Jhon Durán, Leander Dendoncker, Tim Iroegbunam and Bertrand Traoré. The Basque boss revealed that Durán will come back [to training] next week and will be in contention in 2-3 weeks times. Dendoncker, Traoré and Iroegbunam’s return dates are currently unknown, with the trio all deprived of a significant pre-season and are therefore lacking match fitness.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe will be without the services of defenders Javier Manquillo and Emil Krafth for the season opener on Saturday. Manquillo was withdrawn from the 3-3 draw against Villa in Philadelphia with a groin complaint, whilst Krafth continues his rehabilitation process for an ACL injury suffered last season.
Midfielder Joe Willock is expected to miss the opening four games of the season due to a hamstring injury picked up over the summer. The 23-year-old midfielder is targeting a return after the first international break in mid-September.
Elsewhere, despite missing the final three games of pre-season, central defender Fabian Schär is fit and expected to feature in this weekend’s game at St James Park. Boss Eddie Howe confirmed that the Switzerland international has recovered from a hamstring issue and has completed a full week of training ahead of the season opener.
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A BIT ON NEWCASTLE
Last season, Eddie Howe led the Magpies to a first European finish in over a decade and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 02/03 campaign under Bobby Robson. The 45-year-old built upon a positive end to the previous term that saw the head coach spectacularly keep the ‘Toon’ outfit in the top division following the significant Saudi Arabian-led takeover in October 2021.
In that time, Howe has brought the likes of Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimarães, Sven Botman, Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier to St James Park and has further improved the squad this summer ahead of their big campaign in Europe. Alongside the signings, the former Bournemouth manager has been accredited for bringing the best out of the players he had inherited, with the likes of Miguel Almirón and Joelinton reaping the rewards of the Amersham-born boss’ coaching qualities.
Howe has overseen a wealth of change on Tyneside and has improved his side all over the pitch. Bettering the defensive aspect of Newcastle’s game was Howe’s priority following the departure of Steve Bruce however; something that was instantly achieved. Last season, the black and white outfit boasted the best defensive record in the league, conceding just 33 goals over the 38 games campaign, matching that of the champions Manchester City.
Speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow’s game, Eddie Howe believes his side are prepared and ready for Premier League action. He said: “I feel we’re in a good place. It was an intense pre-season period for us, especially with the trip to America.
“We came back and it’s been really good to get the two weeks back here. I think now we enter the season probably where you’d expect to be after a full pre-season – fit, eager and looking forward to the challenge.”
The former Bournemouth head coach also spoke about his admiration for his managerial counterpart and the difficulty of the upcoming fixture. He said: “If you look at last season and the job that he [Emery] did – and we obviously encountered one of those wins that they got towards the end of last season – I thought they were excellent against us.”
“I think he’s done a magnificent job, I think his players have done a magnificent job as well and they narrowly missed out on getting close to us.
“We know it’s going to be difficult. We’ve played against them again in pre-season, so I think we know each other quite well and I think there’s a lot of healthy respect between the two teams.”
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MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for the upcoming fixture at St James’ Park…
Do you agree? Who makes your side? Share yours now and let’s discuss?
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