Villa win the penultimate game of the season as fans get the first look at some of the most exciting youth players in decades. 

Dean Smith takes charge of Villa for the 125th game and makes it W52 D26 L47 at a win rate of 41.60% and a loss rate of 37.60% delivering 1.46 points per game so far in his Villa management career.

Midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka makes his Villa debut aged 17 to become the 968th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Winger Jaden Philogene-Bidace makes his Villa debut aged 19 to become the 969th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Matt Targett secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 69th appearance (68 Starts) to make it W25 D14 L30, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa’s tally of 52 points is their highest in a Premier League season since reaching 64 in 2009-10 under Martin O’Neill. 

Villa won their ninth away Premier League match of the season, their most in a single campaign since winning nine in 2009-10. 

Ollie Watkins equalled Julian Joachim’s club record of 14 Premier League goals by an English player in a season, set in 1998-99.

Villa end the season with successive wins as Chelsea are beaten but a welcome 11th placed finish is tempered with disappointment after the incredible start to the campaign promised so much more.

Villa play in front of their own fans for the first time since February 16, 2020 - 462 days previously.

Jack Grealish makes his 213th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (164 Starts) to leave with a record of W84 D43 L86, 32 Goals, 38 Assists, 34 Bookings and 2 Red Cards.

Jack Grealish contributes his 70th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 213th and final appearance (164 Starts) to make it W84 D43 L86, 32 Goals, 38 Assists, 34 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career. Grealish had achieved 10 goal involvements in 62 appearances (35 Starts), his second ten had come in 41 appearances (25 Starts), his third in 31 appearances (29 Starts), his fourth in 19 appearances (17 Starts), his fifth in 16 appearances (16 Starts), his sixth in 21 appearances (21 Starts) and his final 10 in 23 appearances (21 Starts).

Right back Matt Targett makes his 70th appearance for Villa since joining from Southampton in July 2019 and became the first outfield Villa player in a decade to start every league game in a season having made it W26 D14 L30, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Marvelous Nakamba collects his 10th booking and secures his 20th win on his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (36 Starts) since joining the club from Club Brugge KV on 1 August 2019 to make it W20 D8 L22, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez collects his first booking in a Villa shirt on his 38th appearance to make it W16 D7 L15, 46 Goals Conceded at 1.21 goals per game, 15 Clean Sheets (39%) and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn collects his 30th booking on his 111th appearance in a Villa shirt (108 Starts) to make it W42 D29 L40, 13 Goals, 16 Assists and 30 Bookings at a rate of a card every 3.70 games so far in his Villa career.

Dean Smith’s Villa hammer League Two Barrow in their first ever match against the Cumbrians thanks to a hat-trick from under 23 striker Cameron Archer as a youthful line up delivers an exciting glimpse of the future. 

Villa face Barrow for the first time in competitive football, Barrow become the 162nd team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Cameron Archer scores a hat-trick on only his second appearance for the club (First Start) to make it W2 D0 L0 and 3 Goals so far in his Villa career.

Aaron Ramsey makes his sole appearance for Villa having graduated from the Villa youth teams before moving to Burnley for £14,000,000 in August 2023

Caleb Chukwuemeka makes his sole appearance for Villa before being released in June 2023.

Frédéric Guilbert made the last of his 32 appearances for the club (28 Starts) since joining from Caen in January 2019 to leave with a record of W11 D6 L15, 3 Goals, 3 Assists and 6 Bookings.

Conor Hourihane made his 151st and final appearance for the club since joining in January 2017 to lave a record of W67 D35 L49, 29 Goals, 22 Assists and 25 Bookings.

Anwar El Ghazi contributes his 40th goal involvement and scores his 25th goal for the club on his 110th appearance (85 Starts) to make it W40 D25 L45, 26 Goals, 15 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jed Steer keeps his 10th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearance (33 Starts) since arriving at the club 8 years previously to make it W21 D3 L10, 33 Goals Conceded and 10 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

The opposition, Barrow, didn’t feature a single homegrown player in their squad of 18 but fielded fourteen players from the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dean Smith's Villa can only draw with newly promoted Brentford to make it one win, one draw and one defeat in the opening three Premier League games of the season as Emiliano Buendía scores his first for the club.

Emiliano Martínez concedes his 50th goal on his 41st appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W17 D8 L16, 50 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.22 goals per game, 16 Clean Sheets (39%) and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his third appearance to make it W1 D1 L1, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Danny Ings contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his third appearance to make it W1 D1 L1, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

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

Villa lose on penalties in the third round EFL Cup tie after another excellent Stamford Bridge showing ended 1-1 at full time. 

Jed Steer, Villa's longest serving player, makes his 36th and final appearance for the club (35 Starts) to make it W21 D4 L11, 37 Goals Conceded and 10 Clean Sheets.

Cameron Archer scores his fourth goal for the club on his second start to make it W2 D1 L0 and 4 Goals so far in his Villa career.

Steven Gerrard’s Villa suffer defeat for the first time under his leadership but run reigning champions Manchester City close at a boisterous Villa Park despite losing Leon Bailey and Matt Targett to injury during the game. 

Ollie Watkins scores his 20th goal for Villa on his 52nd appearance for the club (49th Start) to make it W22 D7 L23, 20 Goals, 4 Assists, 6 Bookings, 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ashley Young makes his 200th appearance for the club across two spells after coming on as an early substitute for the injured Leon Bailey. It is just Young's 9th substitute appearance and makes it W87 D59 L55, 38 Goals, 64 Assists, 36 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the third time in four under Steven Gerrard as a fine attacking performance sees off Leicester.

John McGinn makes his 125th appearance for Villa (122nd Start) since joining in August 2018 to make it W48 D29 L48, 16 Goals, 17 Assists and 34 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins makes his 50th start for the club (53 Appearances) to make it W23 D7 L23, 20 Goals, 4 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Marvelous Nakamba secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance (45 Starts) to make it W25 D10 L28, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tim Iroegbunam makes his first ever squad appearance for Villa.

Villa canter to victory at Carrow Road as they win for the fourth time in six under new boss Steven Gerrard.

Ezri Konsa, 24, makes his 85th appearance for Villa (81 Starts) since joining the club in July 2019 to make it W34 D15 L36, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Carney Chukwuemeka contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 8th appearance (2 Starts) to amke it W5 D2 L1 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Youth goalkeeper Filip Marschall made his first ever appearance in the Villa squad aged 18. 

Axel Tuanzebe, 24, made his 46th and final Villa appearance as his third loan spell with the club was cut short. In total Tuanzebe had made 41 Starts, W20 D14 L12, 1 Assist and 1 Booking.

Villa take the lead but lose to a title challenging Chelsea side as Covid stricken Steven Gerrard is absent. 

Douglas Luiz, 23, makes his 90th appearance in a Villa shirt (79 Starts) since joining in July 2019 to make it W33 D15 L42, 3 Goals, 8 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Steven Gerrard marks his tenth game in charge of Villa with a second successive match against Manchester United. Villa make two mistakes, fall two goals behing before delivering a comeback of Manchester United proportions.

Steven Gerrard’s loss rate sits at 50% after 10 games in charge of Villa with a record of W4 D1 L5 at a win rate of 40% delivering 1.30 points per game so far in his Villa management career.

Lucas Digne, 28, makes his Villa debut after his arrival from Everton for a fee of £27,000,000 on Tuesday to become the 975th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Philippe Coutinho, 29, creates one and scores one on debut as a 68’ substitute after joining on loan from Barcelona and becomes the 976th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Matty Cash makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt since joining in September 2020 and now has a record of W20 D6 L24, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 12 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt (16 Starts) since arriving from Norwich in June 2021 to make it W6 D3 L11, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Carney Chukwuemeka, 18, makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) following his graduation from the youth set up to make it W5 D3 L2 and 1 Assist  so far in his Villa career.

Jed Steer makes his 120th appearance as an unused substitute since his arrival in 2013.

Villa’s field their most expensive starting line up of the season (£209.86m) but it still costs less than Manchester United’s £247.53m 8 man bench (which includes two free transfer goalkeepers).

Villa take the lead on the stroke of half time amidst disgraceful scenes from the Goodison Park crowd. 

Having outclassed Everton in the first 45' Villa survive a second half air raid on their box to win for the first time in four Premier League games.

John McGinn records his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 130th appearance since joining from Hibernian in August 2018 to record W50 D29 L51, 16 Goals, 17 Assists, 35 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tyrone Mings collects his 25th booking on his 110th start in a Villa shirt (111 Appearances) since joining from Bournemouth in January 2019 to make it W45 D20 L46, 7 Goals, 5 Assists, 25 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 25th start (48 Appearances) to make it W20 D6 L22, 3 Goals, 2 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Philippe Coutinho makes his first start for Villa on his second appearance to make it W1 D1 L0, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Robin Olsen makes his first squad appearance for Villa following his loan signing for the remainder of the season from Roma.

"A Premier League Classic' as Villa fall behind before fighting back with three fantastic first half goals through Coutinho and Ramsey (two). 

A scruffy Leeds goal just before half time and another in the second half pegs Villa back to leave them with a share of the points as Ezri Konsa is unlucky to receive his second red card of the season whilst more than a few are equally lucky to remain on the pitch.

Calum Chambers makes his Villa debut after his free transfer arrival from Arsenal in January to become the 977th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Jacob Ramsey scores a brace to make it 5 goals in 49 games in a Villa shirt (26 Starts) to record W20 D7 L22, 5 Goals, 2 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins makes his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt (57 Starts) after joining in September 2020 to make it W25 D9 L26, 21 Goals, 5 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.31 games played so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt after joining in September 2020 to make it W24 D10 L26, 79 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.31 goals per game, 21 Clean Sheets (35%) and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Eight of Villa's twenty man squad arrived at the club without transfer fees, (Leeds four). 

An awful first half performance gifts Newcastle the lead and the relegation threatened side could have been out of sight had they capitalised on all Villa's defensive mistakes.

Jacob Ramsey makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (27 Starts) to make it W20 D7 L23, 5 Goals, 2 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Leon Bailey comes on as a second half substitute to make his 10th appearance in 26 games in a Villa shirt (4 Starts) since his £28,800,000 move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to make it W3 D0 L7, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Once again eight of Villa's twenty man squad arrived at the club without transfer fees, (Newcastle four).

Things WE always knew: Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings CAN play together; Emiliano Buendía > Philippe Coutinho.

Super John McGinn makes his 140th start in a Villa shirt (143 Appearances) since joining in the Championship years in August 2018 to make it W55 D31 L57, 16 Goals, 18 Assists and 38 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tyrone Mings records his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 124th appearance (123 Starts) to make it W50 D22 L52, 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 28 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins becomes one of just nine players to have scored 10 or more Premier League goals in each of the last two campaigns, and one of only four Englishmen to do so along with Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Raheem Sterling.

Comfortably the worst referee of the modern era, Jonathan Moss, takes charge of the visit of title chasing Liverpool to Villa Park.

23’ BBC Sport: “Liverpool have settled into this game and are on top now but it is an understatement to say Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard and the home fans have been uninmpressed with the performance of referee Jon Moss so far.”

28’ BBC Sport: “Fabinho subbed off before sent off… ( well perhaps after a further dozen fouls).”

28’  BBC Sport: “Ref is having a shocker. I’m a Liverpool fan but how was that not a foul by Keita?”

28’  BBC Sport: “Refereeing incompetence is just incredible it really is. I support neither team tonight and I’m fuming watching this.”

34’ Jonathan Woodgate: “Jonathan Moss needs to be better. There is letting the game go and letting the game go.”

42’: Jonathan Woodgate: “Some of the decisions have been a bit strange all evening.”

Steven Gerrard takes charge of Villa for the 25th game to make it W10 D13 L12 at a win rate of 40.00%, loss rate of 48.00% at 1.32 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%.

Tyrone Mings makes his 125th appearance for the club (124 Starts) since joining in January 2019 and now has a record of W50 D22 L53, 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 28 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz scores his 5th goal for the club on his 108th appearance (95th Start) to make it W39 D18 L51, 5 Goals, 8 Assists, 26 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa's slump under Steven Gerrard continues and the alarm bells are ringing louder than the Aston Church bells.

Typical Villa? It’s nearly two years since Villa won at home in a midweek fixture with the last coming against Arsenal in July 2020 (2019-20 Season).

Carney Chukwuemeka makes his 3rd start and 16th and final appearance for the club to leave with a record of W7 D5 L4 and 1 Assist.

Ollie Watkins makes his 75th appearance for the club (71 Starts) to make it W30 D12 L33, 27 Goals, 5 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.34 games played so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 75th appearance for Villa to make it W29 D13 L33, 95 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.27 goals per game, 26 Clean Sheets (35%) and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne makes his 15th appearance in a Villa shirt since signing in January to make is W5 D4 L6, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Calum Chambers makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) after joining in the same window to make it W4 D3 L3, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Nick Pope has now made a record number of saves against Villa twice.

Emiliano Buendía becomes the second Villa player this season to score and concede a penalty after King Kortney at Old Trafford.