Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is drawing ever nearer and we’re profiling all 20 Premier League teams before the season starts.
The three newest additions to the Premier League, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth, were all profiled in our Promoted series (articles that will be refreshed before the big kick-off), so we begin our team-by-team guides with Aston Villa.
It was a season of steady progress at Villa Park in 2021/22, with Aston Villa’s 14th-place finish not terrible given the loss of talisman and captain Jack Grealish (£7.0m) shortly before the campaign commenced, plus the change in management midway through.
With Steven Gerrard taking the reins in Gameweek 12, all of the team statistics featured here are from that point onwards.
LAST SEASON: ATTACK
| Metric | Total | Rank v other Premier League teams |
| Goals | 38 | 7th= |
| Shots | 335 | 9th |
| Shots in the box | 216 | 10th |
| Shots on target | 123 | 8th |
| Big chances | 42 | 13th= |
| xG | 36.55 | 12th |
From Steven Gerrard’s arrival in Gameweek 12 onwards, Aston Villa ranked seventh overall for goals scored, with 38 in 27 matches.
The all-important underlying attacking statistics, meanwhile, paint the picture of a mid-table Premier League side, which feels okay given that the most expensive FPL option for Villa costs £7.5m.
LAST SEASON: DEFENCE
| Metric | Total | Rank v other Premier League teams |
| Goals conceded | 34 | 8th |
| Clean sheets | 8 | 6th= |
| Shots conceded | 317 | 5th= |
| Shots in the box conceded | 204 | 6th= |
| Shots on target conceded | 99 | 5th= |
| Big chances conceded | 43 | 7th= |
| xGC | 37.35 | 8th |
On inspection, Villa’s defence actually performed very well under Gerrard, suggesting their backline can offer value when the fixtures fall kindly in 2022/23.
The recent additions of defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) and centre-half Diego Carlos (£5.0m) could potentially tighten them up further, too.
Gerrard often turned to Douglas Luiz (£5.0m) in the number six role last season, also experimenting with Calum Chambers (£4.5m) and Tim Iroegbunam (£4.5m), but French international Kamara feels like a significant upgrade, which could have a positive impact on Villa’s clean sheet potential.
OPENING FIXTURES
In an appealing opening run, Aston Villa kick start the new season away to newly-promoted Bournemouth, then face Everton and Crystal Palace.
Beyond that, things stiffen up considerably.
In fact, Gerrard’s troops meet four of last season’s top eight between Gameweeks 4 and 7, which includes clashes against West Ham United, Arsenal, champions Manchester City and Leicester City.
However, Gameweek 8 looks like the ideal time to ‘hop on’ their assets, with fixtures against Southampton, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brentford either side of Chelsea in Gameweek 11.
PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 1 LINE-UP
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1 year, 8 months agoOk, I might have to eat crow here and admit Bailey actually is one hell of an option.