Commencing their preparations for life in the Champions League, Aston Villa's first pre-season friendly takes place on Wednesday, when they make the short trip to the Bescot Stadium to face Walsall.
Unai Emery's men shocked the
Premier
League landscape to sneak into the top four last season, while their hosts will be competing in League Two for the sixth season running.Match preview
A crushing Europa Conference League semi-final loss to Olympiacos and 5-0 battering at the hands of Crystal Palace saw Aston Villa's 2023-24 end on a sour note, but the campaign was still one of unbridled celebration for Emery and co.
Now meeting the targets of the incredibly ambitious owners, the Lions will compete in the top tier of European football for the first time in 42 years, having pipped the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to fourth place in the English top flight.
Not since the 1982-83 European Cup have the Villans dined at the continent's top table, meaning that Wednesday's visitors will make their debut in the Champions League - as it is now known - this season, and few can argue that their place among Europe's elite was not warranted.
Villa's shock fourth-placed finish was down in no small part to a record-breaking sequence of home wins - prevailing in their first eight Villa Park games of the new term and an astounding 15 overall - but none of their seven pre-season matches will be played in familiar surroundings.
Indeed, Emery's men will soon face Spartak Trnava in Slovakia before a stopover in the USA, where Columbus Crew, Club America and RB Leipzig await. Athletic Bilbao then arrive at Walsall's Bescot Stadium in August, before preparations conclude in Germany against Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.
Used to hosting relatively obscure League Two players rather than Champions League contenders, Walsall's humble home will be blessed with the arrivals of top-class talents in the coming weeks, whom Mat Sadler's men ought to take some inspiration from.
Sharing Aston Villa's end-of-season pain by losing four of their final five League Two fixtures, Wednesday's hosts wound up in an unspectacular 11th place in the League Two table with 65 points, conceding an alarming 73 goals en route to their mid-table ranking.
While Villa will be taking part in their inaugural pre-season friendly this week, Walsall have already marched to a straightforward success over Southern League Premier Division side Alvechurch, whom they put to the sword 3-0 on Saturday.
Harry Williams, Charlie Lakin and Jamie Jellis all got on the scoresheet in a comfortable outing for Sadler's Saddlers, as a mixture of first-team stalwarts, up-and-coming prospects and a couple of trialists all earned valuable summertime minutes at Lye Meadow.
Fixtures with Tamworth, Birmingham City, Drogheda United and Solihull Moors are also on the pre-season agenda for Walsall, who have not butted heads with Aston Villa in a competitive setting since days in the Third Division in 1972, but they played out a 1-1 friendly stalemate almost exactly 12 months ago.
- W
Team News
One of a few clubs to have raised eyebrows with their transfer dealings - shakings hands with other teams treading a fine Financial Fair Play line - Aston Villa have added Ian Maatsen, Cameron Archer, Enzo Barrenechea, Samuel Iling-Junior, Ross Barkley and Lewis Dobbin to their ranks for 2024-25.
Maatsen's involvement with the Netherlands at Euro 2024 will delay his involvement, though, while Jhon Duran, Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa, John McGinn and Copa America winner Emiliano Martinez will also be given more time to recover from their international exploits.
Long-term knee victims Boubacar Kamara and Emiliano Buendia are still on the mend and will not be seen at Bescot Stadium either, while Moussa Diaby is being strongly linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, leaving his participation somewhat uncertain.
Similarly, there has been significant movement both in and out of the Walsall walls this summer with as many as nine players departing so far, including midfielder Isaac Hutchinson, whom Bristol Rovers paid £252,000 for.
The hosts are yet to dip into their own cash reserves, but two Stoke City prospects - centre-back David Okagbue and goalkeeper Tommy Simkin - have joined, and both were part of the first-half side for the beating of Alvechurch.
Walsall possible starting lineup:
Simkin; C. Barrett, Williams, Okagbue, Farquharson, L. Gordon; Stirk, Lakin, Earing; J. Gordon, Matt
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Kesler-Hayden, Torres, Hause, Digne; Rogers, Barkley, Barrenechea, Ramsey; Archer, Dobbin
We say: Walsall 0-3 Aston Villa
After hitting Alvechurch for three without reply at the weekend, Walsall may find themselves on the wrong end of such a scoreline on Wednesday, even with a defence-heavy setup.
Emery's side may be without some of their chief attacking focal points, but they should run into few roadblocks en route to a comfortable success.
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