After a rough start to the Premier League season, Aston Villa had just started to turn their fortunes around, and then the World Cup in Qatar got underway. Luckily, most experts are expecting Villa to get back to winning ways not just for the immediate return to action, but throughout the rest of the season.
Sitting 12th during the World Cup, but only five points above the drop, Villa needed to hit the ground running, even if it was without arguably the team’s best player. Even with this in mind, and the season so far showing clear areas that need improving, a far better second half is tipped to happen.
Expected to recover from a rough start
The first 11 games yielded six losses, three draws, and only two wins, leading to the manager getting the sack and the relegation zone becoming all too familiar. Now, Aston Villa is expected to finish in the top ten, according to outright markets for those online betting, sitting at 8/5 to do so. More importantly, the Claret and Blues are at 1/50 to avoid relegation.
However, the oddsmakers also demonstrate the glaring problem that has plagued Villa for most of the season. In the Top Goalscorer Without Erling Haaland 2022/23 market, Harry Kane leads the way at 8/13. Behind him is Mohamed Salah at 10/1, and the list goes all of the ways down to Michail Antonio at 300/1 without a single mention of a Villa player.
The finishing touch had come to light a bit more since the switch of manager, but even in 12th place, Villa’s goal difference was -6 from 16 goals scored and 22 goals against in 15 games. The goals-against column wouldn’t be too bad if there were more goals going in.
Goals needed more than ever
Aston Villa saw Matty Cash, Jan Bednarek, Leander Dendoncker, and Emiliano Martínez go to Qatar, with the first-choice goalkeeper coming back with the coveted trophy. His shootout antics may have been a bit unsavoury to some, but on such a big occasion, everyone’s willing to do anything to win.
The Claret and Blues miss his services in the return games, meaning that, even with the goals coming back since Steven Gerrard was fired, more will be needed to compensate. With nine goals and three wins in the last four games, the break couldn’t have come at a worse time to stop the momentum.
Luckily, the players who went to the World Cup weren’t among Villa’s last flurry of goalscorers. Danny Ings has exploded to life under Unai Emery, netting two braces in four games. Around him, Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins, and Lucas Digne have also been able to get in on the action.
With additional time for Emery to drill his style into the majority of his players, there’s a good chance that another hot streak will come down the line. Bar the 4-0 defeat after the 4-0 victory, the defence has held up well and will be even stronger once the World Cup winner returns to the crease.
Villa is expected to continue to climb under their new manager, and an important part of that will be scoring plenty of goals.
