Premier League opening weekend fixturespublished at 09:28 18 June
09:28 18 June
Image caption,
All kick-off times BST
Fixtures for the Premier League opening weekend have been released.
The 2024-25 season will begin at Old Trafford with Manchester United welcoming Fulham.
Ipswich Town's 22 years away from the top flight will come to an end with a visit from Arne Slot's Liverpool, while fellow newly promoted sides Southampton and Leicester will visit Newcastle and welcome Tottenham respectively.
Elsewhere, champions Manchester City will begin their quest for a fifth Premier League title in a row by travelling to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in Enzo Maresca's first game in charge.
The games will take place between 16-19 August.
Villa face West Ham on opening daypublished at 09:00 18 June
09:00 18 June
Aston Villa will begin their 2024-25 Premier League campaign against West Ham United at London Stadium.
The match will take place on Saturday, 17 August at 17:30 BST.
Gossip: Gallagher not keen on joining Villapublished at 06:52 18 June
06:52 18 June
Chelsea and England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 24, might reject a move to Aston Villa as he is not keen on joining the club. (Football Insider), external
Premier League fixtures released on Tuesday morningpublished at 19:00 17 June
19:00 17 June
Image source, Getty Images
The 2024-25 Premier League fixtures are being released on Tuesday at 09:00 BST - and you will see them on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced.
What should you look out for?
By chief football news reporter Simon Stone
Matches around European games
This will be even more keenly assessed than usual given the four clubs in the Champions League and two in the Europa League will have eight first-phase games rather than six. Long trips before or after European games do not go down well with managers.
Matches around internationals
There are international breaks in September, October, November and March. In Europe, the first three of those are for Nations League fixtures. World Cup qualifiers in Europe start in March 2025, though in South America and Asia they are being played in all four windows.
England managers tend not to be keen on blockbuster league matches immediately before a break and club bosses are equally unhappy at having to play key matches after them when so many players get back on Thursday or Friday.
Festive fixtures
To allow for a mid-August start, there will not be a winter break this season. The Premier League has assured clubs they will not be asked to play twice in less than 60 hours at any point over Christmas and New Year. That rules out any club playing on 26 December also having a game on 28 December. There will be no Christmas Eve fixture in the 2024-25 season.
As the FA Cup third round has been moved from its traditional home on the first weekend of January to the second, it does seem there will be four rounds of fixtures over the festive period - starting on 21 December and ending on 5 January.
New managers
Four Premier League clubs already have new managers - Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton), Enzo Maresca (Chelsea), Arne Slot (Liverpool) and Julen Lopetegui (West Ham) - with a fifth to come at Leicester. So that's a new era beginning at 25% of clubs before a ball has been kicked. Russell Martin will take charge of a top-flight game for the first time after Southampton's promotion.
Gossip: Villa want Leicester City strikerpublished at 07:56 17 June
07:56 17 June
Aston Villa are monitoring Leicester City and Nigeria striker Kelechi Iheanacho, 27, as he prepares to leave the Foxes this summer on a free transfer. (Football Insider), external
Villa's full focus remains on finalising a swap deal involving midfielder Douglas Luiz with Juventus, despite recent links to a move for 22-year-old Everton and Belgium midfielder Amadou Onana. (Fabrizio Romano - subscription required), external
'It took me a while to feel at home' - Konsa on first joining Villapublished at 09:00 14 June
09:00 14 June
Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has admitted it took him a "while to feel at home" when he first joined the club but the 26-year-old now wants to take his impressive form into Euro 2024.
Konsa joined Villa from then Championship Brentford in 2019 and has enjoyed a fine season as Unai Emery's side qualified for the Champions League.
His performances have been rewarded by a long-term deal signed in September 2023 and a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the European Championship, which starts on Friday.
"At club level, sometimes when you're new, you don't know players," Konsa told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast from the Three Lions' camp in Germany.
"That was me joining Aston Villa for the first time.
"It was difficult to try to be myself for the first few weeks. I had to watch my surroundings and it took me a while to feel at home.
"I think that's normal, that will happen.
"Over here at England I felt at home straight away and I felt comfortable.
"When you're coming here there is a lot of world class players and it is important to always be yourself, do what you do at club level, and bring it over here."
Villa want £40m for striker Jhon Duran, with Chelsea in talks to sign the 20-year-old, who has made just three Premier League appearances since joining in January 2023. (Times - subscription required), external
Buy one, sell one, loan one out - your pickspublished at 18:45 13 June
18:45 13 June
If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player at Aston Villa, who would you pick?
That was the question we asked you to answer, with the transfer window set to open on Friday.
Here are some of your thoughts:
Stuart: Buy: Tammy Abraham - he would really add to Villa's attacking options. Sell: Douglas Luiz - he would bring in much needed cash to help stave off any FFP issues, and his end of season performances perhaps indicated he has moved on from Villa already. Loan: Jhon Duran - he needs regular first-team football at a high level, where he can develop his craft.
Jack: Buy: Conor Gallagher - he would be a good signing but, if money is tight, we should get Sean Longstaff. Sell: Jacob Ramsey - with Douglas Luiz already halfway out the door, we will still need to sell at least one more player. Loan: Joao Felix - I would get him in with an option to buy.
Shak: Buy: Denzel Dumfries - we need a right-back because Matty Cash isn't one and Ezri Konsa is better at centre-back. Sell: Diego Carlos - he is too inconsistent; he can look great in one game but there is always the sense that he has a mistake in him. Loan: Joe Gauci - he would be my pick, unless Robin Olsen is leaving.
Isaac: Buy: Conor Gallagher - although I don't think he would want to leave his boyhood club, so Ross Barkley might be more achievable. Sell: Douglas Luiz - it would help us to avoid getting a points deduction. Loan: Jhon Duran - Chelsea will probably get him though, so we will need another strike partner for Ollie Watkins if we did loan or sell him.
Ali: Buy: Jorrel Hato - we could do with a young right-sided centre-back. Sell: Matty Cash, Robin Olsen, Calum Chambers and Kortney Hause. Loan: Tim Iroegbunam and Omari Kellyman.
Villa in talks over Coutinho futurepublished at 10:33 13 June
10:33 13 June
Nick Mashiter BBC Sport Football News Reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa are in talks with Philippe Coutinho's representatives to resolve the Brazilian's future.
The 32-year-old playmaker has returned to Villa Park after his loan spell at Qatari side Al-Duhail with the club now looking at the options, although no resolution has been found yet.
He still has two years left on the contract he signed in 2022, having initially joined on loan from Barcelona. However, he is unlikely to feature in boss Unai Emery's plans.
Coutinho's spell at Villa Park has been a disappointment. After his loan move was turned into a £17m transfer, he made just nine starts, seven in the Premier League.
His signing was initially seen as a coup for Villa, despite his poor form and a serious knee injury which blighted his time at Barcelona after a £142m move from Liverpool.
Former Reds team-mate Steven Gerrard, then Villa boss, tempted Coutinho to Birmingham, but after scoring on his debut in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United, the Brazil international never managed to recreate his form from his Anfield days.
He made just two starts - one coming in the FA Cup defeat by Stevenage in January 2023 - after Emery was appointed in October 2022 and was loaned to Al-Duhail last August.
Overall, he has scored six goals in 43 games for Villa.
Gossip: Milan put off by Cash asking pricepublished at 07:37 13 June
07:37 13 June
AC Milan have held talks with Aston Villa over a move for right-back Matty Cash. (Talksport), external
Villa have opened talks with Marseille over the possibility of signing 25-year-old France midfielder Matteo Guendouzi. (Football Insider), external
Douglas Luiz's agent has been in touch with Barcelona's sporting director Deco, as the midfielder assesses his summer options. (Sport - in Spanish), external
Chelsea are thinking about offering a new deal to 24-year-old England midfielder Conor Gallagher, who is wanted by Villa and Tottenham. (Guardian), external
Gossip: Villa want a players in return for Luizpublished at 07:38 11 June
07:38 11 June
Juventus are set to talk to Aston Villa in the coming days about midfielder Douglas Luiz, but the transfer could only happen if the Italian giants include a player in any deal. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Premier League 2024-25 - what you need to knowpublished at 12:00 7 June
12:00 7 June
Image source, Getty Images
The 2023-24 Premier League season may have only just finished but there is only 10 weeks until the 2024-25 season is scheduled to start.
So what are the key dates that you need to know?
When does the season start and finish?
The 2024-25 Premier League campaign will get under way during the weekend of 17-18 August.
It will take place over 33 weekends, with four midweek rounds and one Bank Holiday matchweek.
To allow for a mid-August start, there will not be a 'winter break' this time around. However, to avoid Christmas and New Year fixture congestion, the league will give more rest time to sides over three of the festive match rounds, with no club playing within 60 hours of another match.
The final round of fixtures will be played on Sunday, 25 May 2025, with all games to kick off at the same time.
When are the fixtures released?
09:00 BST on Tuesday, 18 June.
We will have all the details here for your club as soon as the fixtures are released.
The summer window will officially open on Friday, 14 June, which also happens to be the start of Euro 2024, and will remain open until Friday, 30 August at 23:00 BST.
Transfer deadline day has been brought forward this year to be in line with the other major leagues in Europe. The closing dates were set following discussions with the leagues in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.
Follow your club page and make sure your notifications are on so you don't miss a transfer deal.
Gossip: Gallagher prepared to stay at Chelseapublished at 07:11 7 June
07:11 7 June
Chelsea and England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 24, is prepared to stay at the club despite interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham. (Guardian), external
England's Euro 2024 squad confirmedpublished at 17:43 6 June
17:43 6 June
What is Aston Villa's summer priority?published at 12:45 6 June
12:45 6 June
We asked for your summer priority at Aston Villa.
Here are some of your responses:
Alan: Transfer business both in and out completed as early as possible to allow new faces to get used to new surroundings and bed in. Vital to come out of the blocks in August. Easier said than done though but has to be a priority surely.
Dan: We need some quality and quantity. We were running on fumes from April and by May we were running on wind power and gravity to push over the line. More experienced players needed to give the bench a stronger look. Barkley is a good start, but need a right-back, second striker if Duran goes, and better back-up keeper.
Hadders: Top priority is addressing how the club has managed the season ticket holders who, despite supporting the club through the largely bad times (apart from the last season and a half), have been displaced from their seats to make way for corporate hospitality. We're winning on the pitch but losing dreadfully off it.
Chris: It is absolutely essential that we get Mings, Ramsey and Kamara totally fit and raring to go for the new season.
James: Villa fans need clarity on the FFP rumours surrounding the club. We want to know that last season was not a fluke and that we are set up for the long term and investment in the club is going to be made. With another injury-plagued season like last season, I do not know if we could survive a points deduction. Priority is a trophy!
Chris: Backup goalkeeper. Robin Olsen just isn't good enough for the Premier League or Europe.
Watkins' mentality keeps driving him on - Smithpublished at 12:03 6 June
12:03 6 June
Nick Mashiter BBC Sport Football News Reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins was one of eight of England's starting XI from Monday's 3-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina who made their senior debuts outside the Premier League.
Watkins made the leap from Exeter in League Two to Brentford in the Championship and then to Aston Villa in the Premier League in the space of three years.
Former Villa manager Dean Smith signed the 28-year-old forward for a then club-record fee of £28m in September 2020, before Smith departed in 2021 after three years in charge of the club.
Current Villa boss Unai Emery has encouraged Watkins to be more selfish, cut down on his channel play and instead focus on playing between the posts more.
As a result, he has scored 41 goals in 84 games under the Spaniard. It is part of the transformation of the entire squad since Emery's arrival.
Watkins, who had been linked with Arsenal - the team he grew up supporting - signed a fresh five-year deal in October.
"I look at him now and he has become more of a selfish player, which is a good thing," Smith said. "His biggest strength could be his biggest weakness. He could beat himself up over things but it would also drive him.
"His emotional control now allows him to accept: 'I will miss chances but I will be ready for the next one'."
Watkins is now ready for Euro 2024, having scored 19 goals for Aston Villa this season - none of them penalties.
He did not come through the Three Lions pathway and he has an overwhelming pride when going into the camp.
"He has got that mentality which keeps driving him on," added Smith. "He knows it is a short career and wants to get the best out of it."
