• A worryingly flat Villa fail to turn up again and lose successive games to sides at the foot of the table in a performance very similar to the final days of former boss Dean Smith.

• Steven Gerrard’s loss rate sits at 50.00% after 14 games in charge of Villa with a record of W5 D2 L7 at a win rate of 35.71% delivering 1.21 points per game so far in his Villa management career.

• Dean Smith had been relieved of his duties in November 2021 with a record of 1.41 points per game, a win rate of 40.29% and a loss rate of 39.57%.

• John McGinn makes his 130th start in a Villa shirt (133 Appearances) to make it W50 D30 L53, 16 Goals, 17 Assists and 36 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Emiliano Buendía makes his 20th start in a Villa shirt (24 Appearances) to make it W7 D4 L13, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Danny Ings makes his 15th start in a Villa shirt (19 Appearances) since joining in August 2021 to make it W6 D2 L11, 4 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• This is the first 3.00pm Saturday fixture at Villa Park since Steven Gerrard’s first game in charge, on Saturday, 20 November 2021. 

• The opposition, Watford, didn’t feature a single homegrown player in their squad of 20 and only three players from the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Villa open a season of great expectation with a surprisingly disjointed performance against a newly promoted side.

• Emiliano Buendía makes his Villa debut after his £32.54m move from Norwich in July 2021 to become the 970th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Danny Ings makes a goalscoring Villa debut after his £31.59m move from Southampton earlier this month to become the 971st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Leon Bailey makes his Villa debut after his £27.12m move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen earlier this month. Bailey becomes the 972nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Tyrone Mings collects his 20th booking in a Villa shirt on his 92nd appearance  to make it W37 D19 L36, 6 Goals, 4 Assists, 20 Bookings and 2 Red Cards  so far in his Villa career.

• Ashley Young makes his first appearance of his second spell with the club 460 games after his last outing in the 2010-11 season. Young makes it 191 Appearances (187 Starts), W82 D57 L52, 38 Goals, 62 Assists, 35 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

• The opposition, Watford, didn’t feature a single homegrown player in their squad of 20 with only two of their starting XI from the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Villa's form continues to improve as they beat Watford at the last to make it two wins, a draw and a defeat in their last four PL outings.

• Villa have now scored two 90th-minute winners in a single Premier League season for the first time since 1994-95. 

• Villa won a Premier League game having been behind at half time for the first time in 51 games since beating Manchester City on 28 September 2013.

• Villa have scored in nine consecutive home Premier League games for the first time since a run of 16 games between May 2007 and March 2008.

• Villa's worst performance of the season sees humiliation at Vicarage Road.

• Villa's difficulties in their first season back in the Premier League reach a new high as they are heavily beaten by 10-man relegation rivals Watford. 

• Having shaken up the midfield Dean Smith had exposed the relative weakness (and slowness) of the available back up to the First XI.

• Ahmed Elmohamady makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (83 Starts) to make it W50 D23 L27, 3 Goals, 15 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Villa lose for the 26th time in 36 Premier League games.

• Eric Black loses his 5th successive game as caretaker manager.

• Villa have now lost 27 of their last 42 games.

• Villa equal their worst ever run of 11 consecutive league losses in a season set in 1962-63 under Joe Mercer. 

• The 1962-63 team scored 5 and conceded 27 over their 11 game losing run. 

• The 2015-16 team has also hit 5 but have conceded 32 - at a rate of almost 3 goals per game between 14 February 2016 and today to make this the worst ever League run in Villa’s long history.

• Aly Cissokho is sent off on his 45th appearance in a Villa shirt on his (44 Starts) to make it W9 D9 L27, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Leandro Bacuna makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (97 Appearances) to make it W27 D19 L51, 6 Goals, 6 Assists and 17 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Rudy Gestede suffers his 25th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (18 Starts) to make it W3 D8 L25, 6 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Ashley Westwood contributes his 17th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 137th appearance (131 Starts) to make it W37 D27 L73, 5 Goals, 12 Assists and 24 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 159th appearance (143 Starts) to make it W48 D37 L74, 10 Goals, 5 Assists, 46 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a card every 3.38 games he has played.

• Idrissa Gueye collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (35 Starts) to make it W4 D8 L24, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Joleon Lescott loses for the twentieth first time in twenty eight league games in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance for the club to make it W3 D5 L21, 1 Goal and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Gabriel Agbonlahor resigns as Villa captain following an investigation into his off-field behaviour.

• Villa lose for the 11th time in 14 Premier League games as they capitulate to allow Watford victory and relegation, after just 14 games, seems inevitable.

• Villa have now gone 13 Premier League games without a victory.

• Jordan Veretout contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 10th appearance (8 Starts) to make it W3 D1 L6 so far in his Villa career.

• Micah Richards loses for the 10th time in a Villa shirt on just his 14th appearance to make it W2 D2 L10, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking, Richards' wins had come against newly promoted Bournemouth and lower League Birmingham so far in his Villa career.

• Scott Sinclair makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (18 Starts) to make it W7 D2 L16 and 9 Goals so far in his Villa career.

• Villa end a run of 11 games without a win with two late goals to beat Watford.

• Since the turn of the year, and the return of their first team goalkeepers, Villa have a win, a draw and a loss in the League and as a result climb back up to 14th place. 

• Villa win for the first time in twelve Premier League games and the first time since November as Martin O'Neill's side beat Watford to sit 14th - having been 4th in the table when they last won.

• Meanwhile a swathe of changes to the Villa squad are underway with the transfer window now open. 

• Right back Phil Bardsley makes his Villa debut aged 21 after joining on loan from Manchester United for the remainder of the season to become the 796th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Full back Jlloyd Samuel, 25, makes his 200th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer in July 2007. Jlloyd had made his debut aged 18 under John Gregory and over his 9 seasons with Villa had a record of W71 D52 L77, 3 Goals, 10 Assists, 26 Bookings and 1 Red Card. Tragically Jlloyd was killed in a car accident aged just 37 in May 2018. 

• Forward Milan Baroš, 25, is put out of his misery as he makes his 51st and final appearance in a Villa shirt (40 Starts) before moving on to Olympique Lyonnais in an exchange deal that brings Villa legend John Carew to the club. Baroš had joined Villa in August 2005 from Liverpool for a fee of £7,960,000 and started with great success with his first 25 appearances delivering 10 Goals and 6 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.56 games. Thereafter however things worsened, considerably. Baroš would score three times and create one assist in his second 25 appearances to leave with a record of W14 D19 L18, 13 Goals, 7 Assists and 7 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.55 games. His actual performance across those final 26 appearances was one goal involvement every 6.50 games.

• Steven Davis secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 97th appearance (80 Starts) to make it W30 D31 L36, 9 Goals, 5 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Gabriel Agbonlahor secures his 10th win and 11th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 37th appearance (31 Starts) to make it W10 D13 L14, 7 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Wilfred Bouma secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (33 Starts) to make it W10 D10 L16 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Olof Mellberg collects his 25th booking in a Villa shirt on his 212th appearance to make it W70 D61 L81, 6 Goals, 6 Assists and 25 Bookings at a rate of a card every 8 games so far in his Villa career.

• Villa extend their unbeaten Premier League run at the start of the season under Martin O'Neill to five games but are held once again - this time at Vicarage Road as soon to be Villa winger Ashley Young comes up close to his future colleagues and boss for the first time.

• Villa hammer Watford to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to 7 under John Gregory.

• Villa hit 4 in the League for the first time this season and climb to 8th in the table under John Gregory.

• Colin Calderwood makes his 30th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (26 Starts) to make it W13 D6 L11 and 2 Bookings across his short Villa career. Calderwood would return to the club as assistant manager to Steve Bruce during Villa’s championship seasons 2017-18.

• Alan Wright makes his 225th appearance in a Villa shirt (222 Starts) to make it W103 D53 L67, 3 Goals, 18 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Richard Walker scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance (1 Start) to make it W1 D2 L1 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

• Paul Merson contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 55th appearance (40 Starts) to make it W24 D12 L19, 8 Goals, 7 Assists and 4 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.67 games played so far in his Villa career.

• Steve Stone contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearance (18 Starts) to make it W15 D8 L11, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Villa recover from their first defeat of the season to win for the third time in five under John Gregory and climb to 3rd in the Premier League table.

• Mark Delaney scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 7th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W4 D1 L2, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Billy McNeill's Villa stop a run of two successive defeats as they draw with Graham Taylor's Watford. As a result, Villa now have just twelve wins in their last sixty League games losing twenty nine. Villa remain bottom of the table, four points off safety and four points off the relegation play off place with nine games left to play.

Graham Turner’s Villa make it two games unbeaten but they now have just four wins in sixteen Division One games and six defeats as Andy Gray scores only his second League goal in fourteen matches since his return to the club.

• Villa put in a poor first half defensive performance and trial by two goals at the break before Eamonn Deacy is sent off on the hour after a succession of fouls. Villa though fight back and though they lose, and fall back to 9th, Watford are left hanging on against the ten men.

• Tony Barton's Villa suffer a Boxing Day nightmare as they fall three behind to Watford before a late fightback sees them lose 3-2. As a result, Villa make it nine wins, four draws and six defeats in nineteen League games this season.

Tony Barton's Villa, reigning European Champions, play high-flying Watford for the second successive match and lose for the first time in seven to make it thirteen wins, three draws and twelve losses in twenty eight League games this season.

Tony Barton's Villa, reigning European Champions, dispatch high-flying Watford in the FA Cup to make the quarter finals.

• On the first anniversary of his appointment Tommy Docherty’s side lose for the third successive game and are beaten for the second time this season by bottom club Watford. One point off safety having played two games more than the thee teams above and one point off bottom club and victorious opposition Watford who have a game in hand on Docherty’s side. Villa need a point a game from their remaining 18 matches to stand any chance of avoiding relegation to the third tier, Docherty had delivered 16 in 24 thus far.

• Tommy Docherty's terrible season continues as Villa lose three successive games to make it four wins, eight draws and twelve defeats in twenty four division two matches. A year since his arrival as Villa boss, Tommy Docherty presided over another defeat - this time to bottom of the table Watford - as turmoil swirled on and off the pitch with a boardroom coup in the offing and a large section of Villa's lowest gate of the season walking out with 20 minutes remaining in protest at Docherty's failings.

• Villa face Watford for the first time in competitive football, Watford become the 97th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

• Tommy Docherty's terrible season continues as Villa fail to score for the sixth time in ten games and make it two draws and six losses in eight division two games so far this season as they slump to defeat against bottom club Watford. Meanwhile, full back Brian Rowan made his one and only appearance for Villa aged 21 after moving from Ballieston Rovers in April 1969 before moving on to Villa’s opposition this day, Watford, in October 1971. Also leaving was midfielder John Griffiths who made his third and final Villa appearance aged 18 before moving to Stockport County in May 1970.