New look Villa hammer Crewe in the second round of the League Cup.

Right back Frédéric Guilbert scores his first goal for Villa on his second appearance for the club.

Centre back Ezri Konsa makes a goalscoring debut for Villa aged 21 after joining from Brentford for a fee of £11,970,000 in July 2019. Konsa becomes the 937th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Left back Matt Targett makes his Villa debut aged 23 after joining from Southampton for a fee of £14,040,000 in July 2019. Targett becomes the 938th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Defensive midfielder Marvelous Nakamba makes his Villa debut aged 25 after joining from Club Brugge KV for a fee of £10,800,000 in August 2019. Nakamba becomes the 939th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Centre forward Cameron Archer makes his Villa debut aged 18 after coming through the ranks. Archer becomes the 940th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Aaron Tshibola makes his first squad appearance since 21 January 2017.

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.

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.

Dean Smith’s Villa make it three wins, one draw and two defeats in the Premier League this season and climb to 7th in the table after six games. 

With Villa taking the lead on 88’, referee Mike Dean awards a 90’+1 minute penalty to Manchester United, which is subsequently missed to allow Villa to record their first win at Old Trafford since 2009. 

Prior to this game, and since Villa's return to the Premier League, three of four matches against Manchester United had been settled in United’s favour through questionable penalty decisions. 

Sunday, 9 May 2021 Villa leading 1-0 at home before Manchester United are awarded a questionable penalty on 52’ by Chris Kavanagh and go on to win 1-3. 

Friday, 1 January 2021 Villa are level at Old Trafford 1-1, then Michael Oliver awards Manchester United a questionable penalty on 61’ to give them a 1-2 win over Villa. 

Thursday, 9 July 2020 Villa are goalless with Manchester United at Villa Park before Jonathan Moss awards Manchester United a questionable penalty on 27’ to set them on the way to a 0-3 win over Villa. 

Ezri Konsa secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 75th appearance for the club since joining in August 2019 to boast a record of W30 D15 L30, 4 Goals, 3 Assists, 9 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Kortney Hause scores the winner at Old Trafford on his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (45 Starts) since joining in January 2019 to make it W23 D10 L17, 4 Goals and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career. 

Matty Cash collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 35th appearance to make it W16 D5 L14, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 44th appearance for the club (41 Starts) to make it W20 D7 L17, 15 Goals, 4 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa go from the sublime to the ridiculous as an ineffective performance sees them beaten by a struggling Spurs side.

Dean Smith’s Villa follow up wins over Everton and Manchester United with a disappointing performance against hitherto out of form Tottenham. In a strangely subdued performance, 

Villa make it three wins, one draw and three defeats in the Premier League this season and as a result fall to 10th in the table after seven games.

Matt Targett contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt on his 77th appearance (76 Starts), W29 D15 L33, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Dean Smith's Villa lose a fifth successive top flight League game for the first time since 2015-16 under Rémi Garde as the recent terrible run under Smith's leadership continues. 

Indeed the first 45' suggested a team no longer responding to the manager or the shirt. The second 45' suggested the total opposite however, but once again it was too little too late and Villa's third season back in the Premier League now looks like a battle against relegation as unexpected as it is worrying. 

Indeed results later in the weekend could see Villa drop into the bottom two as the freefall under Smith continues. 

Time in the Premier League is a sparse commodity however and five consecutive defeats underlines the fall under Smith.

Keinan Davis makes his 86th and final appearance for the club (28 Starts) to leave with a record of W33 D21 L32, 6 Goals, 6 Assists and 3 Bookings.

Matty Cash makes his 40th appearance for the club since his debut in September 2020 to record W16 D5 L19, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Subsequent to a fifth successive defeat it was announced that Dean Smith had been removed from his position as manager.

Dean Smith had been relieved of his duties after 139 games with a record of 1.41 points per game at a win rate of 40.29% and a loss rate of 39.57%.

A new season, no change, Gerrard falls flat again and it's now two wins in twelve for Villa.

Brazilian international centre back Diego Carlos makes his Villa debut aged 29 after joining from Sevilla for £27,900,000 in July 2022. Carlos became the fourth Brazilian to sign for Villa alongside Wesley, Douglas Luiz and Phillippe Coutinho. Carlos becomes the 980th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

French international midfielder Boubacar Kamara makes his Villa debut aged 22 after joining from Marseille on a free transfer in July 2022. Boubacar became the third Frenchman in the first team squad alongside Lucas Digne and Morgan Sanson whilst fellow countryman Frédéric Guilbert also remains with the club. Kamara becomes the 981st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ezri Konsa makes his 100th appearance for the club aged 25 having joined from Brentford for £11.97m in July 2019 to record W37 D19 L44, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 14 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Philippe Coutinho makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt (17 Starts) since his debut in January 2022 to make it W6 D5 L9, 5 Goals and 4 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey, 21, collects his 10th booking on his 40th start in a Villa shirt (64 Appearances) since breaking into the first team in February 2019 to make it W24 D10 L30, 6 Goals, 2 Assists and 10 Bookings 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.

16th in the table at the start of play, Villa have the chance to catapult to 9th in the table as they face newly promoted Forest who have lost five on the bounce including shipping 4 goals without reply to bottom club Leicester last time out.

Villa are looking for their first away win of the season, first away win since beating relegated Burnley in May and third League win of the season. 

FT Forest 1-1 Villa. Gerrard is booed from the pitch by the away fans. Villa sit 16th on merit. The players look like they simply have no interest.

Douglas Luiz makes his 120th appearance in a Villa shirt (103 Starts) to make it W41 D23 L56, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 28 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 85th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W32 D16 L37, 107 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.26 goals per game, 28 Clean Sheets (33%) and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt on his first return to his former club Forest to make it W27 D12 L36, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ashley Young scores his only goal of his second spell with Villa on his 221st appearance (201 Starts) to make it W95 D64 L62, 39 Goals, 64 Assists, 40 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

HT Fulham 1-0 Villa. A dreadful first half performance from Villa, Gerrard booed and jeered mercilessly as he walks to the tunnel, the folly of playing Konsa at right back is just one of the many failings in the first 45’. Genuinely he could be shown his cards at half time.

FT Fulham 3-0 Villa. So bad it is indescribable, don’t be fooled though, the red card and own goal made no difference to the result, Villa were defeated from the first minute with Gerrard’s idiotic defensive change. The issue now is not sacking Gerrard, it’s how toxic their continued dallying causes the fan base to turn on the owners. They are failing us by having not acted, make no mistake we are throwing away points we can never earn back. This is our easy run ended, we have nothing to show for it because of their inaction. The fight is to avoid relegation by any means possible. NSWE are now just as culpable as Gerrard and Purslow. They must act tonight.

Gone, forgotten, over, 40 games, utter despair, wasted 12 months. New start. UTV.

Steven Gerrard is finally relieved of his duties after 40 games in charge of Villa having recorded W13 D8 L19 at a win rate of 32.50%, a loss rate of 47.50%, delivering 1.18 points per game. Only Alex McLeish (2011-12) and Billy McNeill (1986-87) had a worse points per game record after 40 games.

Jacob Ramsey makes his 75th appearance for the club (49th Start) to make it W27 D13 L35, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz is sent off for the second time in a Villa shirt on his 122nd appearance (105 Starts) to make it W41 D23 L58, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 29 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Jan Bednarek makes his first start for Villa (2nd Appearance) and it proves a total disaster to leave a record of W0 D1 L1 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.

Clear organisation. Focus. Commitment. Passion. Football. Another 3 points. 

Villa survive a dreadful refereeing performance from the first seconds onwards, totally losing control of a game that didn’t change in its format from kick off - Brighton foul, often cynically and often collectively with barely any focus on cohesive football. Quite why then his eight card flurry after 75’ happened is a mystery.

Ezri Konsa makes his 115th appearance and 110th start for Villa to make it W42 D22 L51, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz contributes his 10th assist for Villa on his 127th appearance (110 Starts) to make it W44 D23 L60, 7 Goals, 10 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa bounce back in style as Everton are put to the sword at Villa Park with a dynamic performance from home debutant Moussa Diaby and another Everton cameo from Leon Bailey. 

Unai Emery delivers an eighth consecutive Villa Park victory with a stunning performance against an over-run Everton.

Jhon Durán scored his first goal for the club on his 13th substitute appearance and did so only 50 seconds after coming on, four seconds slower than the record holder John Carew - against Everton in October 2009 (46 seconds). Durán's record now stands at W6 D2 L5, 1 Goal and 1 Booking  so far in his Villa career.

Philippe Coutinho makes his 43rd and final appearance for Villa (25 starts) to leave a record of W14 D9 L20, 6 Goals, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On the subject of time the officials once again add on 20 (TWENTY) minutes of additional / injury time following 18 minutes last week. 

Villa’s victory is their eight consecutive home win.