"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).

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.

Danny Ings, booed by his former fans, creates two and scores one as Philippe Coutinho spellbinds again and Villa deliver their biggest win to date under Steven Gerrard.

Ashley Young makes his 195th start for Villa (207th appearance) in his sixth season with the club to make it W90 D60 L57, 38 Goals, 64 Assists, 36 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn makes his 135th appearance in four campaigns for Villa (132 Starts) to make it W52 D30 L53, 16 Goals, 17 Assists and 36 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz, the first Brazilian to play for the club and now 23, makes it 99 appearances for Villa since joining in 2019 (87 Starts) to record W36 D17 L46, 4 Goals, 8 Assists, 24 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins makes his 60th start for the club (64 Appearances) to make it W23 D5 L27, 23 Goals, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey, 20, makes his thirtieth start for the club (53 Appearances) to make it W22 D7 L24, 5 Goals, 2 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 25th appearance for the club (20 Starts) to make it W8 D4 L13, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Three consecutive wins, three clean sheets, more stunning play and goals and Villa are up to 9th under Steven Gerrard.

Douglas Luiz makes his 100th appearance for Villa aged 23 (89 Starts). Having joined in July 2019, Luiz became the first Brazilian to play for the club. Luiz's Villa record now stands at W37 D17 L46, 4 Goals, 8 Assists, 25 Bookings, 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Calum Chambers scores his first and only goal for the club on his 5th appearance (4th Start) to make it W2 D2 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Villa concede and lose for the first time in four games as David Moyes' highly physical style pays dividends for the home side to help West Ham continue their lucky hoodoo.

Jacob Ramsey scores his 6th goal in his last 20 appearances having not scored in his first 34 to make it 55 Appearances, 32 Starts, W23 D7 L25, 6 Goals, 2 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

A first win in six sees Villa finally reach 40 points, but doubts remain. 

Villa do enough to beat Dean Smith on his first return to Villa Park 

The long overdue arrival of Emiliano Buendía as a late sub sees a strong cameo performance as Ings and Watkins reach 15 goals between them for the campaign.

Ollie Watkins scores his 25th goal in a Villa shirt on his 71st appearance (67 Starts) to make it W29 D10 L32, 25 Goals, 5 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. 

Tim Iroegbunam, 19, makes his first start in a Villa shirt after two substitute and 18 squad appearances to make it W2 D1 L0 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career. 

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.

Another missed opportunity to try and climb above last season's 11th placed finish as Villa toil before conceding a late equaliser.

Meanwhile in Steven Gerrard bingo it’s another favourite: “we must be more ruthless and clinical.”

Tyrone Mings makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (126 Appearances) to make it W50 D23 L53, 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 29 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Ezri Konsa makes his 99th appearance for Villa (95 Starts) but leaves the field early with injury - potentially meaning his century won’t be completed this season with just two games left to play. Konsa is left on W37 D19 L43, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 14 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 35th appearance in a Villa shirt (22 Starts) to make it W11 D6 L18, 3 Goals, 6 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

New permanent signing Philippe Coutinho makes his 15th start for the club (17 Appearances) to make it W6 D4 L7, 4 Goals and 4 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne contributes his 3rd successive assist in a Villa shirt to make it 14 appearances, W5 D3 L6, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins hits his 11th goal of the season making it 27 goals in a Villa shirt across his 74 appearances (70 Starts) to make it W30 D11 L33, 27 Goals, 5 Assists, 11 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.

Two goals to the good in a fine defensive performance with the threat always there from Villa's notably attacking line up, Gerrard makes another howling strategic blunder with a defensive substitution, Villa concede three and lose.

Goalkeeper Robin Olsen makes his Villa debut having joined the club in January 2022 and becomes the 979th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Marvelous Nakamba makes his 68th and final appearance for Villa (48 Starts) to leave with a record of W25 D12 L31, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 16 Bookings.

Lucas Digne records his fourth assist in the last five games to make it 16 Appearances, W5 D4 L7, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash scores his fourth goal for the season - and fourth since joining in September 2020 - to make it W26 D10 L32, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Tyrone Mings collects his 30th booking in a Villa shirt on his 128th appearance (127 Starts) to make it W50 D24 L54, 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Philippe Coutinho scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 19th appearance (16 Starts) to make it W6 D5 L8, 5 Goals, 4 Assists so far in his Villa career.

In perhaps the happiest news of the season end for Villa, the questionable and controversial referee Jonathan Moss retires.

Steven Gerrard’s 30th game in charge, and first home game of the season, sees him under real pressure to get a result against a team Villa put three past without reply under Dean Smith this time last season. 

Gerrard’s pre match view provides a typically curious mixed message from a manager whose instructions to his players often seem equally as muddled. 

“I must also say that taking over from a local person who had a lot of success here was difficult from a personal point of view. But I think after a couple of windows and six months in the job I think it is fair people say ‘Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa’ because we have had time to shape it and get it close to how we want it to look and put our own stamp on it.” 

Hopefully Gerrard didn’t *really* mean 9 points from a possible 36 was part of the plan. 

Villa are now without a win in five and have recorded just two wins in their past twelve under Gerrard. 

Matty Cash makes his 70th appearance in a Villa shirt after joining from Forest in September 2020 to make it W27 D10 L33, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa win at League One Bolton but Gerrard's post match words do little to hide the fact that his is a squad riven with strife.

Ollie Watkins makes his 80th appearance in a Villa shirt (75 Starts) since joining the club in September 2020 to make it W32 D12 L36, 28 Goals, 8 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Tyrone Mings makes his 130th start in a Villa shirt (131 Appearances) since joining in January 2018 to make it W52 D24 L55, 7 Goals, 7 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne scores his first goal for Villa on his 20th appearance to make it W7 D4 L9, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Calum Chambers makes his 10th start in a Villa shirt (13 Appearances) to make it W6 D3 L4, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Steven Gerrard names the oldest line up of the season so far and the oldest team since Villa’s return to the top flight.

Another self inflicted defeat, Gerrard’s slovenly approach to football means Villa didn’t even attempt to make hay when they had the advantage. Just before half time West Ham worked out an outlet ball to their big centre forward. Second half they continued more of the same building confidence, and momentum.

Douglas Luiz, 24, makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (115 Appearances) since joining in July 2019 to make it W40 D20 L55, 6 Goals, 8 Assists, 28 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 80th appearance in a Villa shirt since joining in September 2020 to make it W31 D13 L36, 103 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.29 goals per game, 26 Clean Sheets (33%) and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Philippe Coutinho makes his 20th start in a Villa shirt (24 Appearances) since arriving in January 2022 to make it W8 D5 L11, 5 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.66 games played so far in his Villa career.

Aaron Danks, appointed assistant manager under Dean Smith, makes his bow as caretaker Villa boss after the sacking of Smith’s successor. 

HT Villa 3-0 Brentford. A breathtaking first 45’ from Villa, what a difference.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 50th appearance for Villa (28th Start) since being signed from Norwich by Smith for £34.56m in July 2021 to make it W15 D10 L25, 5 Goals, 7 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Danny Ings scores his 10th and 11th goals for the club on his 43rd appearance (30 Starts) to make it W15 D6 L22, 11 Goals, 7 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Belgian international midfielder Leander Dendoncker makes his first start for the club (5 Appearances) since his £13.5m move from Wolves in September 2022 to make it W2 D1 L2.

Villa's annual Cup defeat to Manchester United comes early this year as the second strung Unai Emery has inherited underlines the need for a major squad overhaul.

Robin Olsen concedes his 8th, 9th 10th and 11th goal in three appearances in a Villa shirt to make it W0 D0 L3, 11 Goals Conceded at a rate of 3.67 goals per game so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W4 D1 L5 so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins scores his 30th goal in a Villa shirt on his 92nd appearance (87 Starts) to make it W35 D15 L42, 30 Goals, 9 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz collects his 30th booking on his 126th appearance for the club (109th Start) to make it W43 D23 L60, 7 Goals, 9 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa bounce back from Boxing Day disappointment to take a well crafted and well deserved win at Spurs as Unai Emery celebrates his third win in four Premier League games.

John McGinn makes his 160th start for the club (166th Appearance) since joining in 2018 to make it W62 D36 L68, 16 Goals, 19 Assists and 42 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ashley Young makes his 230th appearance in a Villa shirt (208 Starts) to make it W99 D64 L67, 39 Goals, 64 Assists, 42 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Robin Olsen keeps his first clean sheet on his 5th appearance in a Villa shirt (4 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L4, 14 Goals Conceded at a rate of 2.80 goals per game and 1 Clean Sheet (20%) so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins contributes his 10th assist on his 94th appearance for the club (89 Starts) to make it W36 D15 L43, 31 Goals, 10 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa’s second string fail miserably and underline the desperate need for major investment and turnover in personnel outside Emery’s first XI.

Villa face Stevenage for the first time in competitive football, Stevenage become the 163rd team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Matty Cash makes his 85th appearance for Villa since signing from Forest in September 2020 and now has a record of W31 D13 L41, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 19 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Leander Dendoncker receives his first card of any colour on his 11th appearance for Villa and it's a red. Dendoncker's Villa career now reads W4 D2 L5, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Red Card.

Morgan Sanson scores his sole goal for the club on his 22nd Appearance (8 Starts) to make it W7 D5 L10, 1 Goal, 0 Assists and 3 Bookings.

Robin Olsen concedes his 16th goal in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L5, 16 Goals Conceded at a rate of 2.67 goals per game and 1 Clean Sheet (17%) so far in his Villa career.

Ludwig Augustinsson makes his 4th and final appearance for Villa (3 Starts) before having his loan terminated early by Unai Emery and leaving with a record of W1 D2 L2, 1 Booking.

Fellow surprise signing Jan Bednarek also suffers an early termination and leaves with a record of W1 D1 L2.

Villa record consecutive sub 40,000 crowds for the first time in five seasons with an attendance of 32,343 following a 39,978 gate in the previous fixture.

Villa become the first side to face Abu Dhabi since, to the surprise of no-one on nodding terms with reality, the Manchester interlopers were charged with “more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018”. 

In what is described as the biggest financial scandal and financial doping (aka cheating) ever seen in English football, the typically good grace of Abu Dhabi sees chief apologist Guardiola approach matters even handedly - denying any knowledge of how a small, provincial, unsuccessful club became an overnight heavyweight whilst calling any criticism “jealously.”

Given UEFA found Abu Dhabi guilty of similar charges only for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to find in favour of the club under severe legal pressure there is little confidence that justice will prevail.

Ollie Watkins scores his 34th goal for the club on his 100th appearance (94 Starts) after joining from Brentford under Dean Smith in September 2020 for a then record fee of £27,720,000 to record W38 D16 L46, 34 Goals, 10 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it consecutive wins as they overcome a thuggish performance from Palace to deservedly take the points.

John McGinn, back to his imperious best after the travails under the former manager, makes his 170th appearance in a Villa shirt (163 Starts) since joining in August 2018 to make it W64 D36 L70, 16 Goals, 20 Assists and 42 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tyrone Mings makes his 150th start in a Villa shirt (152 Appearances) to make it W61 D28 L63, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 34 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career. 

Ezri Konsa makes his 125th appearance for the club (120 Starts) to make it W47 D23 L55, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. 

McGinn, Konsa and Mings - high quality players who had suffered much under the former regime but are now back at the top of their games under Unai Emery.

Another deeply suspect refereeing performance mars the game as Chris Kavanagh and VAR collude to award West Ham an equalising penalty before denying Villa their own stonewall spot kick. 

Villa’s World Cup winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez makes his 100th appearance for the club since joining from Arsenal in September 2020. Martínez played just 15 League games for his former club between 2012 and 2020. Made in Aston, Conquered the World. Congratulations Emi. Martínez's Villa record now reads W39 D18 L43, 128 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.28 goals per game, 33 Clean Sheets (33%) and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it three wins in four unbeaten games as another thuggish side is swept aside at Villa Park. Villa climb to 10th in the table.

Douglas Luiz secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 140th appearance (123 Starts) to make it W50 D25 L65, 9 Goals, 13 Assists, 33 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Calum Chambers secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (14 Starts) to make it W10 D4 L8, 1 Goal and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Bertrand Traoré makes his 50th appearance for the club (33 Starts) to make it W17 D10 L23, 7 Goals, 6 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa’s squad, has serious experience of playing for this great club, the starting XI contains 6 players with more than 100 appearances: John McGinn (172), Tyrone Mings (154), Douglas Luiz (140), Ezri Konsa (127), Ollie Watkins (105) and Emiliano Martínez (101). Matty Cash is in the 90’s (93) whilst Jacob Ramsey - still only 21 - is on 90 appearances for the mighty Villa.

Villa make it five unbeaten with four wins as Chelsea are the latest victims of the tactical management of Unai Emery.

Ollie Watkins makes his 100th start for the club (106 Appearances) since joining in September 2020, scoring his 38th goal and hitting double figures for the third successive season. Watkins' Villa record is now W42 D17 L47, 38 Goals, 11 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.16 games played so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins also becomes the first Villa player to score in five successive away games in the Premier League (since 1992-93). 

18 year old goalkeeper James Wright makes his first ever squad appearance for Villa. 

Emiliano Martínez sets a new club record for most clean sheets in their first 100 Premier League games for Villa at 34 eclipsing the previous best of 33 set by Mark Bosnich and equalled by Brad Friedel. As a result Martínez makes it 102 Appearances in a Villa shirt, W41 D18 L43, 128 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.25 goals per game, 35 Clean Sheets (34%) and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.