Matty Cash marks his 100th appearance with a brace as Unai Emery's marauding full back style pays dividends once again. Even better is the maturity of the performance, no buckling under pressure and a level of game management rarely seen in claret and blue.

Nicolò Zaniolo makes his for Villa debut as a 73' substitute to become the 990th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Matty Cash makes his 100th appearance for Villa since joining in September 2020 with a brace of goals to make it W40 D15 L45, 6 Goals, 7 Assists, 21 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn secures his 75th win in a Villa shirt on his 187th appearance (180 Starts) to make it W75 D39 L73, 18 Goals, 21 Assists, 45 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa fail to score for the first time this season as Liverpool hit form.

Clément Lenglet makes his squad debut after joining on a season long loan from Barcelona as Villa fall to a familiar Anfield score.

Total dominance sometimes takes time to pay off. A win for mental strength.

Villa equal their best post-war run of 9 consecutive home league wins in the top-flight

Douglas Luiz scores his 15th goal on his 158th appearance in a Villa shirt (141 Starts). Luiz has now scored 5 times in his last 13 games having scored 10 in his first 145 to make it W62 D27 L69, 15 Goals, 14 Assists, 38 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz became the first Villa player to score in four consecutive Premier League home matches since Gareth Barry in 2006.

Leon Bailey scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 60th appearance (38 starts) to make it W26 D6 L28, 10 Goals, 8 Assists and 9 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.11 starts so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez records his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 117th appearance to make it W50 D20 L47, 143 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.22 goals per game, 41 Clean Sheets (35%) and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

A questionable team selection, three counter-attacks, three goals, three mistakes by Lucas Digne in a struggling defence, two gilt edge chances missed in the final five minutes. Simplistic and harsh but not inaccurate as to how Villa lost on their return to Europe. A real mess of a match.

Villa face Legia Warszawa for the first time in competitive football, Legia become the 165th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 44th continental European opponents and their second from Poland having played Górnik Zabrze in their 1978-79 UEFA Cup campaign.

Clément Lenglet makes his Villa debut after joining on a season long loan from Barcelona to become the 993rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Calum Chambers makes his 30th appearance (16 Starts) since joining the club in January 2022 to record W15 D5 L10, 1 Goal and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance (2 Starts) to make it W2 D0 L2, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa, although not at their fluent best, win against the idiotic spending Chelsea once again and climb to 6th in the table. Cue every excuse under the sun from the paltry Stamford Bridge crowd.

Douglas Luiz makes his 160th appearance for the club (142 Starts) aged 25 after joining in July 2019 to make it W63 D27 L70, 15 Goals, 14 Assists, 39 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (117 Starts) scores his 47th goal since joining in September 2020 to make it W54 D19 L52, 47 Goals, 14 Assists, 13 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.05 games played so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara scores his first goal on his 36th appearance in a Villa shirt (32 Starts) to make it W19 D3 L14, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Robin Olsen concedes his 20th goal on his 11th appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) to make it W4 D1 L6, 20 Goals Conceded  at a rate of 1.81 goals per game and 3 Clean Sheets (27%) so far in his Villa career.

Youri Tielemans makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (3 Starts) to make it W6 D0 L4 so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz collects his 40th booking on his 161st appearance for the club (143 Starts) to make it W63 D27 L71, 15 Goals, 14 Assists, 40 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa batter Brighton once again, the media darlings of the South Coast just cannot cope playing Villa and it's beautiful to watch. A stunning display against a talented outfit led by the excellence and elegance of John McGinn and Ollie Watkins.

Pau Torres makes his 10th appearance for the club (9 Starts) to record W7 D0 L3 so far in his Villa career.

Moussa Diaby makes his 10th appearance for the club (9 Starts) to record W6 D0 L4, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins, scores Villa’s first Premier League hat-trick since his three goals against Liverpool in October 2020, in doing so Watkins scores his 50th goal for Villa in 127 games at a rate of 2.54 games per goal. Watkins record is now W55 D19 L53, 50 Goals, 15 Assists, 14 Bookings, 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.95 games played so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins becomes the first Villa player to score more than one hat-trick in a season since Andy Gray in 1976-77. 

Ollie Watkins becomes the second player, after Christian Benteke in 2012-13, to score two Premier League hat-tricks. 

Villa’s Premier League points tally in the calendar year of 2023 is 58 - a number bettered only by 2022-23 Champions Manchester City.

Villa leave it late, late, late after knocking on the door all evening, but who cares, we're up and running in Europe.

Villa face HŠK Zrinjski Mostar for the first time in competitive football, Zrinjski become the 166th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 45th continental European opponents and their first from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ezri Konsa makes his 150th appearance (145th Start) for Villa since joining the club in July 2019 to boast a record of W63 D26 L61, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa's 45th shot in two games bounces off the left post in the 14th minute of injury time as Unai Emery's side are held to a draw by a typically bad-tempered Wolves.

Shaun Derry and Gary O'Neil embarrass themselves as Unai Emery takes the high ground. 

John McGinn though is not one to let the likes Derry off the hook. 

Meanwhile referee Robert Jones has yet another poor game. Incompetence rather than malice but it really isn't good enough to have officials of this standard in the Premier League.

Pau Torres scores his first goal for the club on his 11th appearance (10th Start) to record W7 D1 L3 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Villa's first win against West Ham since 2015 comes in their 11th straight home league win as Douglas Luiz scores for the sixth successive game at Villa Park.

Villa win for the 11th consecutive Premier League game at Villa Park to mark the anniversary of Unai Emery’s arrival - their best home run since winning 13 in a row in 1983 as reigning European champions. 

Before this run, Villa had won just 10 of 30 home matches - and lost 13 of those games - under the previous incumbent. 

Indeed Emery’s record in charge of Villa is nothing short of astonishing; across his first 41 games he has delivered a haul of 1.88 points per game, 1.90 goals per game and a goal difference of +28. 

2023 under Emery has begun even better, 14 games, 9 wins, 2.00 points per game, 2.50 goals per game and a goal difference +17. Given that Emery took over a Villa side spiralling towards relegation, his contribution in 12 months cannot be overstated and the hope is that it has only just begun. 

Douglas Luiz, becomes the first Villa player to score in six consecutive games at Villa Park in the Premier League, surpassing the record previously held by Dwight Yorke (5 - 1996) to make it 165 Appearances, 146 Starts, W66 D28 L71, 18 Goals, 4 Assists, 41 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins makes his 120th start in a Villa shirt (130 Appearances) to make it W57 D20 L53, 51 Goals, 17 Assists, 14 Bookings and 1 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne makes his 60th appearance for the club (47th Starts) to make it W26 D10 L14, 3 Goals, 9 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara makes his 35th start in a Villa shirt (39 Appearances) to make it W21 D4 L14, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Youri Tielemans contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (4 Starts) to make it W9 D1 L4 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (6 Starts) to make it W6 D1 L3 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Is this really happening? Unai Emery has transformed this team and club. Beating the second placed, Eredivisie title chasing AZ with consummate ease just adds to the utter insanity of the blooming fruition of the team that Dean Smith founded. What a time to be Villa.

Villa face AZ Alkmaar for the first time in competitive football, AZ become the 167th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 46th continental European opponents and their second from the Netherlands following their victory over Ajax in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.

Youri Tielemans scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W10 D1 L4, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn scores his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 198th appearance (190 Starts) to make it W82 D50 L76, 20 Goals, 24 Assists and 48 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara makes his 40th appearance in a Villa shirt (36 starts) to make it W22 D4 L14, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Leon Bailey collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 67th appearance (42 Starts) to make it W30 D7 L30, 12 Goals, 9 Assists and 10 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.00 starts so far in his Villa career.

Total dominance, a freak own goal, who couldn't fall in love watching Villa at the moment.

Villa make it 12 consecutive Premier League wins at Villa Park under Unai Emery and climb to 4th in the table.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 125th appearance since joining in September 2020 to make it W56 D21 L48, 151 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.20 goals per game, 43 Clean Sheets (34%) and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn makes his 200th appearance for the club (192nd Start) since joining in August 2018 to record W83 D40 L77, 21 Goals, 24 Assists and 48 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne makes his 50th start for the club (63rd Appearance) since his arrival in January 2022 to record W28 D10 L25, 3 Goals, 9 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa, undermined by VAR early on, fall behind before quality tells and Unai Emery's men march on in Europe.

Bertrand Traoré makes his 62nd and final appearance for the club (34 Starts) since joining in September 2020) to leave with a record of W26 D11 L25, 10 Goals, 6 Assists, 2 Bookings across his Villa Career.

Ezri Konsa makes his 150th start in a Villa shirt (155 Appearances) since joining the club in July 2019 to make it W66 D27 L62, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Diego Carlos scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance (9 Starts) to make it W9 D1 L5, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Moussa Diaby secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 16th appearance (14 Starts) to make it W10 D1 L5, 3 Goals, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Álex Moreno scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 20th appearance (15 Starts) to make it W12 D3 L5, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 130th appearance in a Villa shirt since joining in September 2023 under Dean Smith to make it W59 D22 L49, 158 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.21 goals per game, 43 Clean Sheets (33%) and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile, and something that will feature in no headlines, or be accompanied by banshee screams of corruption and vendettas. Villa have a 22’ goal ruled out for offside, an offside not committed by either the player crossing the ball or the player heading the ball and which it took a full 3 minutes for the VAR officials to find. Villa should have been leading 2-1 midway through the first half and form would suggest a comfortable victory awaited. It didn’t. Up in Anfield however, and with Liverpool being held to a draw in the final seconds by Fulham, Liverpool ‘score’ a last gasp winner despite an obvious and deliberate foul in the build up to the the goal. No VAR check follows. Liverpool win. Villa draw. Liverpool move onto 31 points when they should have been on 29. Villa gain a single point to sit on 29 when they should have won the game and three points to give them 31. That is how titles are won and lost. That is why VAR is such a clear and obvious mess. Look hard enough and they will find, close their eyes and look the other way and they won't.

John McGinn contributes his 50th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 208th appearance (199 starts) to make it W93 D45 L79, 25 Goals, 25 Assists and 53 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper Filip Marschall, 20, makes his Villa debut after coming through the youth ranks to become the 994th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Tommi O'Reilly makes his Villa debut as a late substitute after coming through the youth ranks to become the 995th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Nicolò Zaniolo scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 17th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W10 D3 L4, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash makes his 120th appearance in a Villa shirt (106 Starts) to make it W53 D18 L49, 7 Goals, 9 Assists, 25 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey makes his 110th appearance in a Villa shirt (72 Starts) to make it W48 D18 L44, 13 Goals, 10 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Diego Carlos makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt (13 Starts) to make it W12 D3 L5, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

The War of West London. Games against Brentford will NEVER be the same again. 

Villa have now won 25 Premier League games in 2023, their most top-flight wins in a calendar year in their entire history. 

Ollie Watkins is the first Villa player to score 20 goals in a calendar year since Dwight Yorke.

John McGinn makes his 200th start in a Villa shirt (209 Appearances) since joining from Hibs in August 2018 to make it W90 D42 L77, 23 Goals, 25 Assists and 51 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins scores his 57th goal and contributes his 75th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 130th start (140 Appearances) to make it W65 D21 L54, 57 Goals, 18 Assists, 17 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.73 games played so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (45 starts) to make it W30 D4 L15, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jhon Durán, 20, makes his 30th appearance in a Villa shirt (6 Starts) to make it W18 D4 L8, 4 Goals and 6 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.50 starts so far in his Villa career.

Álex Moreno scores his second goal for the club and contributes his 5th goal involvement on his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (17 starts) to make it W15 D5 L5, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez collects his 15th booking on his 133rd appearance in a Villa shirt having not been cautioned in his first 37 games to make it W62 D22 L49, 159 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.19 goals per game, 45 Clean Sheets (34%) and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa go joint top of the Premier League but the 15 game winning run is over as more shocking VAR calls do the damage again.

Moussa Diaby makes his 25th appearance for Villa (20th Start) to record W16 D4 L5, 4 Goals, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ezri Konsa makes his 165th appearance in a Villa shirt (160 Starts) since joining the club as a 21 year old in July 2019 to make it W72 D30 L63, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 25 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 starts) to make it W11 D4 L5, 1 Goals, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Leander Dendoncker scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearances (12 Starts) to make it W18 D5 L11, 1 Goal and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Tim Iroegbunam makes his first league appearance for the club in 20 months having last played as a sub in the 0-0 draw at Leicester in April 2022 to make it 5 Appearances, 1 Start, W3 D1 L1 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in nine seasons but it's another distinctly odd refereeing performance from Robert Jones.

Douglas Luiz contributes his 20th assist in a Villa shirt on his 180th appearance for Villa (159 Starts) since joining in August 2019 to make it W76 D31 L73, 19 Goals, 20 Assists, 43 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Leon Bailey makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (81 Appearances) to make it W40 D9 L32, 15 Goals, 14 Assists and 13 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.72 starts so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara, returning from a 3 game suspension, makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (46 Starts) to make it W31 D4 L15 so far in his Villa career.

Leander Dendoncker secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (13 starts) to make it W20 D5 L11, 1 Goal and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jhon Durán secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearance (7 Starts) to make it W20 D5 L9, 4 Goals and 6 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.75 starts so far in his Villa career.

David Coote creates a re-run of the battle of West London. Presumably Villa will raise private concerns over his ability to officiate over future games but regardless this is one Villa did well to survive.

But in In Unai Emery's own words: "It is not enough for us, the point we achieved today," 

Youri Tielemans makes his 25th Appearance for the club (11 Starts) to record W17 D3 L5, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz makes his 160th start for Villa since joining in August 2019. 

Unai Emery is the only manager in Premier League history to manage 40-plus games with a club, average two or more points per game, and not win a title.

Álex Moreno makes his 30th appearance in a Villa shirt (20 Starts) since joining in January 2023 to make it W17 D7 L6, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Moussa Diaby makes his 30th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) since joining in July 2023 to make it W18 D6 L6, 5 Goals, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (110 Starts) since arriving in September 2020 to make it W55 D21 L49, 8 Goals, 9 Assists, 27 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Diego Carlos makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (18 Starts) since joining the club in July 2022 for £26.27m and makes it W14 D5 L6, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ezri Konsa makes his 170th appearance in a Villa shirt (165 Starts) to make it W74 D32 L64, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 27 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 140th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W64 D25 L51, 168 Goals Conceded, 48 Clean Sheets and 16 Bookings at a rate of 1.20 goals per game, 48 Clean Sheets (34%) and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career.