Aston Villa will be eager to improve on the 2023/24 season ahead of their Champions League campaign next term, with one key area needing desperate attention this summer.
After securing Champions League football with a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, Aston Villa will go into the summer on a high.
Unai Emery ensured the Villans’ first finish in the top four since the 1995/96 season, telling of just how impressive the Spaniard’s first full campaign was at Villa Park.
While the high of securing a spot back among Europe’s elite will live throughout the summer, Emery and Monchi will be keen to bolster the squad in preparation for the 2024/25 season.
The upcoming transfer window will present a wave of opportunities for the Midlands club to replenish and boost the fourth-place finishing side, with work also needing to be done with those already at the club.
For all of Villa’s peaks over the season, there has been one constant worry, with the defensive structure needing to be solved fast.
Unai Emery must solve Aston Villa’s problem in defence
There’s no doubt that Emery’s side deserves to play in the Champions League, having not dipped out of the top five from matchweek seven in the Premier League.
That being said, Villa must improve on one key area if they are to truly challenge both in the league and in Europe in 2024/25, with defensive areas proving to be a worry.
In the Premier League over the campaign, Villa conceded more goals than relegation-threatened Everton, who conceded 51 to Villa’s eye-watering 61 over 38 games.
What’s alarming is that Emery’s side have been getting comfortable with their defensive record being close to relegation candidates, as the Villans conceded the same amount of set-piece goals as Burnley this term with 16.
If Villa are to push on from the achievements of the 2023/24 season, work must be done to solve the defensive woes, with such margins showing the difference between the Midlands club and the top three.
How far Aston Villa are defensively from Premier League rivals
Villa’s defensive record alongside the bottom clubs is just as alarming as it is alongside the top three.
The Villans conceded 20 goals more than Liverpool in the Premier League over 2023/24, 32 more than Arsenal and 27 more than Manchester City.
2023/24 Premier League top four defensive record
While the numbers make the need for improvement glaringly obvious, the problems were called out during the season, with journalist Dan Bardell warning Emery of the ‘frailties’ seen at the back from set pieces back in March.
It will be interesting to see what work the manager and his squad do in the summer to strengthen at the back, with issues seeming to be more tactical than personal, rubbing shoulders with Burnley as one of the worst defensive outlets in deadball scenarios.
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