Matty Cash hits a screamer and echoes the world in condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine... and is promptly booked ... 18 year old Tommi O'Reilly makes his squad debut ... Ollie Watkins scores for the first time since December ... Tim Iroegbunam finally makes his debut ... and Villa win away.

18 year old youth team midfielder Tim Iroegbunam makes his first team debut after ten unused substitute appearances to become the 978th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Emiliano Martínez secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance to make it W25 D10 L28, 81 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.28 goals per game, 22 Clean Sheets (35%) and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

18 year old attacking Midfielder Tommi O’Reilly makes his first squad appearance for Villa.

The Credit Side: Villa stop a run of 4 consecutive defeats; Villa keep a clean sheet for the first time in five.

The Debit Side: Villa slump to 15th in the table with relegation a possibility if not currently a probability; Villa fail to score for the third time in four games; despite continued protestations against the squad he inherited, Steven Gerrard plays the same team and continues to ignore Emiliano Buendía and Calum Chambers.

Ollie Watkins makes his 70th appearance in a Villa shirt (66 Starts) since joining in September 2020 to make it W28 D10 L32, 24 Goals, 5 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.41 games played so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez keeps his 25th clean sheet on his 70th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W27 D11 L32, 90 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.28 goals per game, 25 Clean Sheets (36%) and 5 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. 

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.

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 boast five different goalscorers in a Premier League match for the first time since beating Bolton at Villa Park in November 2009 under Martin O’Neill when Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, James Milner and Carlos Cuéllar hit the goals in a 5-1 win. 

Morgan Rogers makes his Villa debut after his £8m move from Middlesbrough two days earlier to become the 996th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Leon Bailey scores his 16th goal in a Villa shirt on his 85th appearance (52 Starts) since joining under Dean Smith in August 2021 to make it W41 D11 L33, 16 Goals, 15 Assists and 13 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.67 starts so far in his Villa career.

Boubacar Kamara makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (54 Appearances) since his arrival in July 2022 to make it W32 D6 L16, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn scores his 25th goal in a Villa shirt on his 217th appearance (208 Starts) and has now contributed 50 goal involvements since his debut in 2018 to make it W93 D45 L79, 25 Goals, 25 Assists and 53 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 4.34 games played so far in his Villa career.

Ezri Konsa secures his 75th win a Villa shirt on his 171st appearance (166 Starts) to make it W75 D32 L64, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 27 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo makes his 25th appearance for the club (10 Starts) to record W12 D6 L7, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 8 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it 67 seasons without winning the FA Cup.

Goalkeeper Joe Gauci makes his first squad appearance for Villa since joining in the January transfer window. 

Ollie Watkins scores a brace on his 140th start in a Villa shirt (151 Appearances) to make it W69 D24 L58, 61 Goals, 22 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.82 games played so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn makes his 220th appearance in a Villa shirt (211 Starts) to make it W94 D45 L81, 25 Goals, 25 Assists and 54 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey, 22, makes his 120th appearance in a Villa shirt (79 Starts) to make it W53 D19 L48, 13 Goals, 11 Assists and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash makes his 130th appearance in a Villa shirt (114 Starts) to make it W57 D21 L52, 8 Goals, 9 Assists, 28 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (58 Starts) to make it W35 D13 L27, 3 Goals, 9 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Leon Bailey makes his 90th appearance in a Villa shirt (57 Starts) and contributes his 10th assist of the season to make it W44 D11 L35, 17 Goals, 18 Assists and 14 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.62 starts so far in his Villa career.

Clément Lenglet secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 18th appearance to make it W10 D3 L5, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Morgan Rogers collects his 1st booking in a Villa shirt on his 3rd appearance (0 Starts) to make it W3 D0 L0 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

The folly of appointing an Albanian League referee to officiate a game between former European Champions is laid bare.

Douglas Luiz makes his 190th appearance in a Villa shirt (169 Starts) to make it W80 D34 L76, 22 Goals, 23 Assists, 45 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Morgan Rogers makes his first start in a Villa shirt on his 4th Appearance to make it W3 D1 L0 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez keeps his 50th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 147th appearance to make it W68 D26 L53, 178 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.21 goals per game, 50 Clean Sheets (34%) and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W14 D7 L8, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings at a rate of a card every 2.90 games so far in his Villa career.

A sending off and an opposition that scores four from five shots. 

John McGinn is sent off on his 224th appearance in a Villa shirt (214 Starts) to make it W96 D46 L82, 25 Goals, 26 Assists, 54 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz makes his 170th start in a Villa shirt (191 Appearances) since joining in 2019 to make it W80 D34 L77, 22 Goals, 23 Assists, 45 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne makes his 60th start in a Villa shirt (79 Appearances) to make it W37 D14 L28, 4 Goals, 9 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Youri Tielemans makes his 20th start in a Villa shirt (35 Appearances to make it W21 D5 L9, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Clément Lenglet makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W11 D4 L5, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Another seriously poor refereeing performance, this time from an Israeli League referee. There is a theme here, surely UEFA have the nous to appoint experienced, higher league referees to games such as this. Apparently not

John McGinn makes his 225th appearance for the club (215th Start) to record W97 D46 L82, 25 Goals, 26 Assists, 54 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa, in their 100th European Game, score their 150th European goal.

Mauricio Pochettino claims that Chelsea deserve to be fourth despite actually sitting 11th, 16 points behind Villa.

Gary O’Neil claims "More possession, more shots (Villa 13, Wolves 11), higher expected goals (Result: Villa 2, Wolves 0). We were the better team by a mile … but then somehow we end up being 1-0 down. You can tell Aston Villa fans were slightly surprised and going 1-0 then relaxes the place.” 

Back in the real world, without Mings, Buendia, Kamara, McGinn, Cash and Ramsey, and losing Ollie Watkins at half time, Villa don’t get out of second gear, beat Wolves, consolidate 4th spot and move on to 59 points after 30 games. 

Coincidentally, Wolves’ best ever Premier League finish was 59 points after 38 games in 2018-19. 

Villa move on to 59 points after 30 games, just two points off their total of 2022-23 that took them to a seventh placed finish after 38 matches.

Villa have Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendía missing in an unprecedented run of absences.

But with no refereeing generosity today - after all Jonathan Moss has been 'retired' - and in truth, the club formerly known as Manchester City for once actually deserved their victory over Villa, albeit a second string Villa.

Robin Olsen makes his first start in a Villa shirt since November 2023 and his 10th start in three years with the club (13 Appearances) to make it W5 D1 L7, 25 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.92 goals per game and 3 Clean Sheets (12%) so far in his Villa career.

Jhon Durán makes his second League start in 2024 to make it 39 Appearances, 9 Starts, W22 D7 L10, 6 Goals and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nicolò Zaniolo makes his first start since December to make it 33 Appearances, 11 Starts, W15 D8 L10, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tim Iroegbunam makes his first ever League start in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (3 Starts) to make it W7 D2 L5 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Morgan Rogers contributes his 1st goal involvement for in a Villa shirt on his 5th start of his nascent Villa career to make it W5 D2 L1, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Omari Kellyman makes his Premier League debut on his 4th appearance in a Villa shirt (1 Start) to make it W2 D0 L2 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz, one of the few experienced Villa players in the line up, makes his 195th appearance (174 Starts) in a Villa shirt to make it W82 D35 L78, 22 Goals, 24 Assists, 47 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Well it wouldn't be Villa in Europe without us conceding to leave the tie in the balance. 

Thankfully the away goals rule was dumped in 2021.

Moussa Diaby secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 45th appearance (28 Starts) to make it W25 D9 L11, 8 Goals, 7 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Unai Emery's 1,000th game as a manager and surely no period can illustrate his incredible quality than his first 74 with Villa. Whatever happens in the denouement of this season, Emery has taken a team on course for relegation to the top four of the Premier League and within sight of a European final for the first time in over 40 years.

On his return from suspension Douglas Luiz makes his 199th appearance for the club (178th Start) since joining in July 2019 and receives his 50th booking to make it W83 D37 L79, 22 Goals, 24 Assists, 50 Bookings, 2 Red Cards.

Matty Cash creates his 10th assist on his 139th Villa appearance to make it W61 D24 L54, 9 Goals, 10 Assists, 30 Bookings, 1 Red Card.

Morgan Rogers makes his 10th start for the club (14th Appearance) and collects his 5th yellow card to record W8 D4 L2, 3 Goals, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings.

As Villa secure their 46th top six finish without even playing, neighbours Birmingham are on the brink of their latest relegation to the third tier. With Villa having spent only two seasons in Division Three over 50 years ago, and Birmingham having never finished higher than 6th in their history - achieving that on only one occasion in 1954-55, the contrast across the city has never been greater.

Villa face Olympiacos Piraeus for the first time in competitive football, Olympiacos become the 168th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 47th continental European opponents and their first from Greece.

Douglas Luiz makes his 200th appearance in a Villa shirt (179 Starts) since joining in July 2019 and now has a record of W83 D37 L80, 22 Goals, 24 Assists, 50 Bookings, 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

John McGinn makes his 222nd start in a Villa shirt (232nd Appearance), matching Ashley Young's total for the Premier League era to make it W100 D48 L84, 26 Goals, 28 Assists, 54 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Robin Olsen makes his 15th appearance in a Villa shirt (11 starts) and concedes his 30th goal to make it W5 D2 L8, 31 Goals Conceded at a rate of 2.06 goals per game and 3 Clean Sheets (20%) so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins scores his 70th goal in a Villa shirt on his 165th appearance (154th Start) to make it W77 D26 L61, 70 Goals, 25 Assists, 20 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.74 games played so far in his Villa career.

Moussa Diaby makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (32 Starts) to record W27 D10 L13, 10 Goals, 8 Assists, 4 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.78 starts so far in his Villa career.