Aston Villa are having quite the season in 2025/26. As they reach the half-way point after 19 Premier League fixtures, Villa are in third place in the table.
Unai Emery isn’t one to get carried away. The Villa manager isn’t unduly distracted by highs and lows, and it’s just as well. The season began in historically bad fashion, the team unable to score a goal never mind win a match. Yet, here we are.
With 19 Premier League matches out of the way and on the eve of number 20, let’s use this opportunity to take stock of where Villa are, where they’ve been, and where they could be going.
Villa finished the 2024/25 season in sixth place and failed to return to the Champions League on goal difference, though the last match was more about missing out on vital points than goals.
Having had a taste of Champions League football, Villa set their stall out in the summer and it was ambitious. In the midst of a financial regulatory mire, Emery and Villa targeted the top four or winning the Europa League – whatever it takes to get back to where they feel they need to be.
It was a punchy marker, for sure. Here’s the table as it stands with 19 matches played across the board:
There’s simply no arguing with that. Villa are six points behind league leaders Arsenal having played them twice and beaten them once. They’ve defeated Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Before Tuesday’s loss at Arsenal, eight consecutive wins in the league had the mainstream press frothing about the team’s participation or otherwise in a title race. They’re neither in one nor out of it at present, of course – they haven’t even played a game in 2026 yet – but does their proximity to the top change their targets?
I hope not. That’s not really how long-term targets are supposed to work. The fact that Villa were winless in their first five matches and went on to win 13 of the next 14 should guard against assuming anything, quite frankly, and I see 39 points as a great head-start in the quest for a top-four finish.
In its proper context, Villa’s position is very strong. They were ninth after 19 matches in 2024/25 and had 29 points. That improvement speaks for itself but we only need to look back at 2023/24 to find cause for caution.
After 19 matches in the season in which Villa qualified for the Champions League they were third with 39 points. They finished fourth, somewhat against the odds and with little room to spare.
Villa aren’t looking beyond a Champions League place and that’s why.
The Premier League is Villa’s focus, representing as it now does the best route to the Champions League. There are 19 matches left to play, one against everybody apart from Arsenal (none) and Nottingham Forest (two, starting with this Saturday).
The aim? Finish with enough points to be secure in the top four.
Villa are battling on two fronts with potential Champions League spoils at stake. The other is the Europa League, which resumes this month with the concluding league phase fixtures away at Fenerbahçe and at home against Red Bull Salzburg.
There’s no point pretending there’s anything to gain for Villa in European club football’s secondary competition than going all the way and winning it, so that’s the objective, plain and simple.
Emery’s team can’t be eliminated from the league phase. With 15 points from their six matches, Villa are third in the table and level on points with Lyon and Midtjylland above them, and guaranteed at least an unseeded play-off place.
Needing that would be a catastrophe – for now, Villa’s short-term aim is to finish in the top two or, at worst, the top eight.
The third and lowest priority for Villa in the second half of 2025/26 is the FA Cup. It’s a competition I truly hope they can win in my lifetime, but it’s not top of the list right now.
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