Aston Villa

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We asked for your thoughts after Wednesday's Carabao Cup game between Coventry City and Aston Villa.

Here are some of your comments:

Coventry fans:

Andy W: Defensively we were just very poor yet again, looked good at times going forward but just not clinical enough, really not sure we have enough quality overall to get out of trouble but I am really hoping that we find a way.

Richard: Well it's another fine mess we're in, Frank. Apart from scoring the goal of the game. Coventry look out of sorts, I can't see Doug King putting up with this much longer. New man needed to steady the ship, I'm afraid.

Robert: Very poor defensively, lack confidence, looks like a long hard season unless a drastic improvement quickly.

Paul: Woeful defending cost Coventry tonight. We had a great 20-minute period which included a sensational goal by Torp. But if you can't keep clean sheets you're going to struggle.

Andy: Long, long way from being able to compete.

Aston Villa fans:

Rob: Much better from Villa. Hemmings is improving, Mbaye looks lively and Taylor Harwood-Bellis was worth the wait for his debut. I'm pleasantly surprised to see we won a League Cup match for a change, too. Hopefully we can translate this into a win against Spurs on Saturday so we can put our shaky start to the season behind us before the international break.

Paul: Not a great performance against a poor Coventry side. Some decent individual performances. On debut Harwood-Bellis had a good performance, nothing extravagant, did his basic job very well, limiting errors.

Griff: Unbalanced, gave the ball away too much and a little disorganised. Great to see Ruggeri, Manzambi and Mbaye on the pitch. Happy that Tammy scored a brace and hopefully it'll build confidence. Still have the faith in Unai!

Prit: Really important for Villa and getting better match by match. Really good to see Abraham get his brace, Harwood-Bellis looked assured at the back and with Manzambi and Mbaye, Villa have the players to unlock defences. Let's keep it going and three points on Saturday would be very welcome indeed.

John: Good win, need to gain momentum now at Spurs on Saturday.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking after his side's Carabao Cup victory against Coventry: "Each competition we are playing in, we try to win and to be consistent.

"We are not [consistent] in the Premier League but in the Champions League and against Coventry in the Carabao Cup, we performed fantastic, and the players as well responded on the field like we need.

"The new players as well, how they are trying to understand everything tactically and individuals showing their skills, is positive."

On Tammy Abraham coming into the team and scoring two goals: "Very, very positive how Tammy performed. Of course scoring goals he will feel confidence for the next matches and for us as well it's important to add players getting confidence and being ready to play and perform and get to our level for the next weeks and months and of course Saturday against Tottenham."

On goalkeeper Marco Bizot being substituted at half-time: "He was feeling some pain in his back and we needed to change him."

On Taylor Harwood-Bellis' debut: "Very good, he's young but he has experience. He played in the style we have and he's understanding as well how he can play with his skills. His attitude is fantastic and how he can dominate, playing with his style in our structure."

Hear more from Emery above or on BBC Sounds here

Aston Villa, Brighton and Arsenal are all monitoring 17-year-old Austrian midfielder Luca Weinhandl, who could be available from Sturm Graz for around £17m. (CaughtOffside, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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The draw for the Carabao Cup fourth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties in the order they were drawn.

• Fleetwood Town v Arsenal

• Manchester City/Norwich v Brighton

• Everton v Newcastle

• Sunderland v Brentford

• Liverpool v Chelsea

• Bradford v Peterborough

• Fulham v Crystal Palace

• Bournemouth v Aston Villa

The matches will be played in the week commencing 26 October.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Coventry's performance

What did you make of Aston Villa's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Thursday for a selection of your replies.

There are four Carabao Cup third-round ties on Wednesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Fleetwood Town v Sheffield United

• Coventry City v Aston Villa (20:00)

• Manchester United v Brighton (20:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-offs 19:45 BST unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

There's also Europa League fixtures taking place, with Sunderland in action as the league phase gets under way - follow that here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on your smart speaker. Just say "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play Manchester United v Brighton" or "Alexa, ask BBC Sounds to play the Everton match", for example.

New this season: Live match updates

Fans of Premier League clubs can now get real-time scores live on their phone lock screen for every game.

Simply follow your favourite football teams on the BBC Sport app for updates throughout the 2026-27 season.

Find out more here

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New this season: Match of the Day Predictor

Simply predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

Players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or on this link

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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"His time is coming," said Unai Emery when asked about Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

The £30m defender has had to wait for his chance at Aston Villa, following his move from Southampton, but he now has the opportunity to prove his worth.

He is expected to make his debut against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, having endured a frustrating start to life at Villa Park.

Left out of the Champions League squad and yet to feature since his arrival, the 24-year-old has already had his patience tested just over two weeks after joining.

Bought to replace Ezri Konsa after his £51m move to Arsenal, Harwood-Bellis could provide stability at the back following a damaging weekend.

Aston Villa conceded 22 shots against Nottingham Forest in the 2-1 defeat, after conceding 21 shots in their opening weekend collapse at Brighton.

It will be a untried defence at CBS Arena, with left-back Matteo Ruggeri likely to make his full debut alongside Harwood-Bellis.

It is the problem Emery faces; trying to integrate his new players while needing to get quick results following a poor start to the season.

He has faith in his players but the pressure will be on Harwood-Bellis to perform, as he returns to the Premier League after a chastening previous campaign in the top flight.

When Southampton managed to pick up just 12 points and finished bottom of the Premier League in 2024-25, Harwood-Bellis made four errors leading to goals.

That season he made an average of 0.9 tackles a game, compared to Konsa's 1.0, and made 1.4 blocks and 4.5 clearances per 90 minutes.

A ball-playing centre-back, he made an average of 67.6 passes per game - a figure comfortably clear of Konsa's 50 passes per game.

Along with young striker Brian Madjo and fellow defender Modou Cisse, Harwood-Bellis was left out for Europe by Emery as the head coach failed to find room.

"Because in Europe you can have 23 players and in the league not," Emery said. "[Mikel] Arteta wanted to open it for more players. We needed to take off someone, and it was Taylor.

"It is hard, the decision we took, and for the players. The experience we have here, when we were without Malen, Andres. To decide, it is through the analysis of how we are expecting to be until January.

"We are going to play eight matches. Cisse is not in because he is injured. Madjo is still injured for the next two weeks minimum. Taylor arrived as the last one, and we can get the balance with Lamare Bogarde, and we can even play Kamara.

"We tried to analyse it deeply. Taylor will be here for a long time, and hopefully, we will have the opportunity to play in Europe with us, in January maybe, and the next few years."

Read the full article here

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We asked for your views on the lack of playing time for Aston Villa's summer signings under Unai Emery so far.

Here are some of your comments:

Rob: I think when they arrive and first train, they are identified as not being 'Emery fit' so they have to train a lot to get fitter to get a good run. Even stars like Youri Tielemans were not a consistent starter when he joined. It makes me think that Taylor Harwood-Bellis must be nowhere near 'Emery fit' and that's why he wasn't in any of the squads so far.

Brian: Our manager has never played a new signing immediately unless he has no other option so nothing new there. Played well against PSG, Arsenal and beat Club Brugge, plus a draw against Hull and they are flying. Not going to panic.

Rob: I think he should be using his new signings more but it really doesn't matter what I think, Emery knows better than I do which is why I and the vast majority of Villa fans trust him. He'll get it right, it's way to early too be asking questions of him.

Ed: Chris Sutton's views are not accurate. Emery not starting or using many of the new signings yet is no surprise to Villa fans. If we look at Emery's reign so far, he rarely uses new signings immediately. He likes them to adjust to the club and the system for a while. If new signings start immediately, it is because of lack of other options in their positions, like with Zion Suzuki, Nicolas Jackson and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Tielemans, Pau Torres and Marcus Rashford all had to wait for their opportunities.

John: Villa will make the top six with these players eventually, I don't think it will be this season as there is a lot of bedding in to be done but with Emery in charge the future looks bright. Just give the club time.

Unai Emery can be trusted to solve Aston Villa's problems this season, despite not fully utilising his new signings, believes former Premier League striker Chris Sutton.

Villa made 10 signings in a summer of upheaval but Emery has only handed starts to three of them - goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and striker Nicolas Jackson.

"It's a difficult one because it's sticking to what he knows and he trusts and he clearly doesn't have the trust with enough of the new signings right now," Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"He's sticking to what he knows and not giving these newbies an opportunity which, probably, they feel that they warrant. I get it.

"But the biggest issue with Villa is, there's always been change since Emery's reign started, he's done such a good job and you can't not trust him. But it's just the amount of key players in which they've sold; they were never, ever, ever going to replace them. These were players - Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez - crucial, big-game players and they were never going to replace them.

"I don't think there's a more principled manager in the Premier League than Unai Emery and the way he wants his teams to play and that's where he'll be saying it takes time.

"But how can you not trust a guy who was seventh, fourth, sixth and fourth [in the Premier League table] - you can't doubt him. So it will be another work in progress and it will be hard to finish in the top six with the players they've lost."

What do you think about Sutton's comments? Do you think Villa's summer signings should be getting more minutes or is Emery taking the right approach?

Get in touch with your views here

And listen to this week's full episode on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

The question as to why Aston Villa sold goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez so "cheaply" to Chelsea this summer has been the subject of several questions sent in via our Ask Me Anything form for the West Midlands club.

On the face of it a deal worth £7.5m to sell a World Cup winner and Villa's best goalkeeper in the Premier League era does look a steal.

But Martinez had been looking to go for the past two summers, Villa had a replacement already in the building in Zion Suzuki and the transfer sagas were getting tiring.

Last summer, it was potentially Manchester United and this time it was Juventus - until Chelsea made their move to take him to Stamford Bridge.

A parting of the ways was best for both parties and, don't forget, Villa were also looking to reduce the wage bill and the average age of the squad.

With Martinez being one of the higher earners and older players it made sense to find a solution for him.

Juve could not agree a fee, having tabled fairly low offers, and it looked like Martinez was staying, especially when head of football operations Damian Vidagany said in the summer his future was at Villa Park.

Yet Chelsea - and you can find their Ask Me Anything form here - needed another goalkeeper and made their move.

The final fee may look low initially but when everything is taken into consideration it was the right deal for everyone.

Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

Find out more here

Niall McCaughan
BBC Final Score reporter at Villa Park

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Aston Villa finally got their first Premier League goal of the season, but it didn't come with any points.

When Unai Emery needs something to happen, generally he can bank on John McGinn. The Scot became Villa's all time leading European scorer in midweek and turned provider for Alysson's equaliser against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

But how important is his contribution going to be off the pitch this season?

Emery was unlucky in having to use up one of his subs in the first half against Forest when Pau Torres picked up a problem and was replaced by stalwart Tyrone Mings.

It meant the Spaniard had already used up all of his changes when Ian Maatsen limped off later in the game and couldn't be replaced, with Villa unable to hang on to a point as a result.

It was unfortunate for Emery, who gave fresh signings Johan Manbanzi, Ibrahim Mbaye and goalscorer Alysson a chance from the bench to try and positively influence the game.

There is clearly potential in all three of those young players, who could shape up to be very exciting for Villa moving forward.

But the experience of those long-serving characters like McGinn and Mings may be key to try and guide this younger group out of a difficult spot.

Both were part of a squad last season who went six Premier League games before picking up their first win. A remarkable run of 17 victories in 19 games in all competitions followed.

Things do feel a little bit different this season - and it's up to the likes of McGinn to keep spirits up among the group.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Defender Tyrone Mings summed up the Aston Villa mood as he slumped to the floor at full-time following a 2-1 defeat at home by Nottingham Forest.

Three defeats in their opening four games only leaves further questions for manager Unai Emery to answer following a summer rebuild.

Villa may have ended a run of 372 Premier League minutes without a goal but their problems remain.

It is the fourth time they have started a top-flight season without winning any of their opening four games, having done so in 1992-93, 1997-98 and 2025-26.

It mirrors last season - which ended with a fourth-placed Premier League finish and historic Europe League triumph - but those celebrations from May already feel like a lifetime ago.

By the time Igor Jesus scored a late winner, Villa were down to 10 men after full-back Ian Maatsen was forced off injured, with Emery using all his substitutes to add to their defensive problems.

There is a fear the left-back's ankle injury could keep him out for a considerable time, meaning new signing Matteo Ruggeri will be called on, perhaps earlier than Emery would want.

The Villa boss complained that Forest's James McAtee should have been sent off for the challenge which injured Maatsen, but refused to blame it for the outcome of the match.

There are mitigating factors.

Along with a new squad after several key departures, the North Stand redevelopment has meant the capacity has been reduced and there are no fans at one end.

But the drop-off at home should now be alarming.

Villa won at home when it mattered most at the end of last season - routing Forest in the Europa League semi-finals en route to winning the competition and putting four past Liverpool to book a Champions League spot - but they need to rediscover the feeling which made them near-invincible in front of their own followers.

So often over the past few seasons, after a Villa equaliser, they have they gone on to win, but there was no grandstand finish this time, leaving Emery perplexed about why his side could not control the game.

"I don't know why," he said. "I want to see the match again and to understand why we lost our shape."

Jesus instead had the final say to leave the Spaniard, who has provided solutions at Villa for so long during his tenure, searching for answers to revive his side's fortunes.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Rob: Disappointing second-half performance cost us but, based on chances created, Forest deserved their win. That said, a two-footed challenge on Maatsen when both the player's feet were off the ground as he dived in has to be a straight red so I expect we will get another ProRef apology in the coming days, though a point would have been papering over the cracks. Desperate to get to the international break so that Emery can get to work with a full squad, though with two more injured after this one that looks like a distant dream. Poor from Buendia and Tammy - the rest gave their all and our young attacking trio of Mbaye, Manzambi and Alysson gives us hope.

Pammy: Unai will get the time to brainwash the newbies ready to join his 'cult' but they need to learn fast because four games in and it ain't looking good. Crazy to say, but the Spurs game could define our season!

Andy: It's not often that Villa fans criticise Unai - and rightly so... he's been amazing for four seasons. However, many think he's being too conservative and system-based. The subs and timing of them were a bit baffling against Forest - manager's error of judgement maybe. Go on Unai... take us on a crazy winning streak (again), the bad start to the season will be forgotten (again) and people will stop doubting (AGAIN)!

Chay: I feel Emery needs to start all of the new signings at this point. It's clear that the half that stayed from last season are not up to it any more and we need to freshen up our tactics to compensate this.

Forest fans

Daniel: Superb away performance from Forest, especially in the second half. Oli G's tactics suit our players, especially with Delap up top being a real menace. The goal he scored was top drawer - reminds me of a certain Stan Colllymore!

Luke: That's as good a performance as I've seen from Forest in a very long time. It's encouraging to see the Glasner blueprint coming together, and all the summer signings played a big part in this win. Still very early days but this is a great platform to build from.

Simon: Confidence in the new style of play is building. We've lost Elliot Anderson but ended up with an all-round stronger squad. I mischievously suggested Forest could make the top four - but I'm actually only half joking.

Kris: A win at Villa is as rare as an eclipse and to see it happen in such convincing fashion was better still. Schlager and McAtee were sublime, Diomande an absolute rock and Munoz has started to show why we paid £22m for a 30-year-old. Saturday was about Delap, though - what a finish and his all-round play was too much for Villa to handle.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This was another poor performance, and as much as Unai Emery will talk about the turbulent summer and changes Aston Villa have experienced, they were disjointed and unable to match Nottingham Forest.

Record signing Nicolas Jackson was replaced at the break by Tammy Abraham - a player Emery was willing to let leave Villa this summer - in a sign this new-look side have not found their way yet.

It is not a surprise in a sense, because the manager is methodical and the players must take on an incredible amount of detail, but more is still expected of them.

A 3-2 Champions League win at Club Brugge perhaps raised expectations, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "For me it was really clear, it was a red card [foul on Ian Maatsen]. I watched it after the match. I watched it on TV and it was clear.

"We need passion and to try and keep in balance our expectations.

"Maybe we need time."

Did you know?

• Aston Villa ended a run of 372 Premier League minutes without a goal with their first of 2026-27, though it's the fourth time they've started a Premier League season without winning any of their first four games, after 1992-93, 1997-98, and 2025-26.

• Only against Jurgen Klopp (P7 D3 L4) has Unai Emery faced a manager more often in his top-flight league career without winning than Oliver Glasner (P6 D2 L4), while the Spaniard is yet to beat him across all competitive encounters (P8 D2 L6).

• Listen to more from Emery on BBC Sounds