Last year’s revelation hasn’t start the season well. Aston Villa surprised everybody when they not only finished as fourth in the Premier League last season, but also won the Europa League, their first European trophy after 44 years. Unai Emery established himself as one of the top 5 managers in the league as he somehow managed to play good football, win and deal with injuries in a relatively small team. But nothing was good since. Just like Newcastle, Aston Villa is trying to catch up with the so-called ‘Big Six’, but PSR rules have severely damaged them. Despite going to the Champions League, they were forced to sell and weakened the team in the process. On top of that, they were hammered 4-0 at the start of the season and their best striker refused to play in order to facilitate a transfer.Unai Emery has just created an all-timer. 😭 pic.twitter.com/Fuc5KtOs24— No Context Prem (@NoContextEPL) August 23, 2026 Despite not playing in Europe this season, Chelsea managed to buy Morgan Rodgers with ease, and then Manchester United and Arsenal came to take other important players like Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa which left Villa crippled. On top of that, their best striker Ollie Watkins is not happy that the club refused an offer from Al-Hillal. The 30-year old England international wants to earn a lot from his last big contract and apparently refused to play against Brighton. And when the game finished terribly, Emery was visible distracted.🚨 Aston Villa to reject formal bid from Al Hilal for Ollie Watkins. Proposal to sign 30yo striker worth €45m package – will be turned down by #AVFC but #AlHilal pursuit of England international ongoing. W/ @J_Tanswell @TheAthleticFC after @FabrizioRomano https://t.co/a9U11fkvI4— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 18, 2026 Asked where is he and did he refuse to play, the Spaniard answered:“This question is for him. I can answer only with my silence. I think you can call him, you can call his agent and he can respond. He can only explain his answer, I can’t. We had two strikers injured and another striker – it’s his answer”. This looks identical to Alexander Isak’s situation last season. The Swede had his best season, mainly due to the fact that Newcastle coach Eddie Howe got the best out of him (just like Emery did with Watkins), but he had no problem imposing a strike in order to facilitate his move to Liverpool and burned all bridges in the process. Aston Villa are in for a rough season, and Emery is feeling the heat for the first time.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 1FridayArsenal – Coventry 3-0 (2-0)/Havertz 15, Saka 23, Odegaard 49/SaturdayHull – Manchester United 2-0 (2-0)/Ajayi 17, Mendy 38/Everton – Crystal Palace 2-0 (1-0)/Dewsbury-Hall 42, Barry 53/Ipswich – Sunderland 2-1 (1-1)/Emersonn 24, Clarke 90 – Angulo 39/Nottingham Forest – Leeds 0-1 (0-0)/Stach 88/Brentford – Tottenham 3-0 (2-0)/Lewis-Potter 12, Janelt 33, Kayode 49/SundayBrighton – Aston Villa 4-0 (4-0)/Lindelof 8(og), De Cuyper 18, Hinshelwood 30, 31/Manchester City -Bournemouth 2-1 (0-1)/Guehi 84, Gvardiol 90+1 – Tavernier 26/Newcastle – Liverpool 2-2 (1-0)/Elanga 5, Willock 57 – Gakpo 55, Szoboszlai 90' +9 (p)/Monday22.00: (3.70) Fulham (3.80) Chelsea (2.00)***odds are subject to change***