Aston Villa

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Since the start of October, Morgan Rogers has taken five shots on target in the Premier League.

All five found the back of the net.

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Following their 2-1 win at King Power Stadium in August, Aston Villa are looking to complete their first league double over Leicester since 2003-04.

Aston Villa are in talks with Borussia Dortmund over a move for 25-year-old Netherlands forward Donyell Malen, who the Bundesliga club value at £25m. (Mail), external

Meanwhile, Everton have joined Ipswich Town in plotting a loan move for Aston Villa's English winger Jaden Philogene, 22. (Athletic - subscription required), external

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

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Ipswich have shown an interest in taking Aston Villa winger Jaden Philogene to Portman Road this month.

The 22-year-old was close to moving to the Tractor Boys in the summer, only to re-join Villa just a year after being sold to Hull City.

Ipswich agreed an £18m deal with the Tigers in July but Villa inserted a clause into their negotiations with Hull when they sold Philogene in 2023, meaning they would have three days to match any bid once a deal had been agreed.

The England Under-21 international opted to return to Villa Park but has made just four starts, two in the Premier League, this season.

Ipswich are looking at wide options after Chiedozie Ogbene's season-ending Achilles injury in October.

Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys have no desire to sell Liam Delap, who joined from Manchester City in a deal worth £20m in the summer, this January.

The striker has seven goals in 17 league starts, including a penalty in the 2-0 win over Chelsea on Monday, and is key to their survival hopes with Kieran McKenna's side a point from safety.

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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Aston Villa came up - quite a long way - short at Newcastle on Boxing Day, but taking a longer view, the clubs are in quite similar positions and their hosts' recent experience may be instructive.

Both have shown that the Premier League's established top bracket can be breached. Both are big city clubs with large fanbases and grand stadiums, which can be fearsome to visiting sides and both have owners with the financial muscle to back up their ambition.

Finally, both have chafed at the profit and sustainability requirements [PSR] that they feel are limiting them at the precise moment they would like to consolidate in order to achieve regular Champions League football rather than it being a one-off adventure.

Against Brighton, it felt like Villa were flagging late on and the statistics support the sense of a developing trend: a league-high 11 goals conceded after the 75th minute so far this season. Since they were last in the top four in late October, late goals have cost Villa points against Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Brighton.

Can we correlate this to the workload of a Champions League campaign? Several times, Unai Emery has pointed out that Villa were covering just as many miles in Europe last season in reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League.

That is true, but the demands on his top-line players are surely higher now. They are playing in the top-tier competition and, although Villa deservedly held fourth place to the end, their momentum was fading in the final weeks of the season, which may in part have cost them the Conference League trophy.

The injury to Pau Torres and Jhon Duran's suspension sharpen the focus. Villa's owners surely have the means to help Emery find more high-class back-up, with the likelihood there will be enough games to give everyone chances to play when the squad is at full strength.

However, with the PSR ceiling having been close enough last summer for Villa to have to sell Douglas Luiz – and later make plain the reasons for doing so – it remains to be seen how they can ever bring this financial power fully to bear.

For a successful 2025 then, Villa need to solve more equations like this – and, in the long term, hope that the rules will be made, in their view, more reasonable. In this, they are not alone – but Newcastle's renewed forward momentum this season, after falling back while in the Champions League, demonstrates that there is a route through.

Listen to full commentary of Aston Villa v Leicester at 15:00 GMT on Saturday on BBC Radio WM (DAB and Freeview channel 714)

Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Lewis Dobbin is poised to sign for Norwich on loan from Aston Villa until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old winger could wrap up the move in the next 24 hours and has already visited the Canaries' Colney training ground.

Dobbin is available after his loan at West Brom was terminated, as he struggled for game time at the Hawthorns.

He joined Villa from Everton in a £10m move this summer, then moved to thethe Baggies in August but made just one league start for them - a 1-1 draw against Preston in November - as well as 16 substitute appearances.

He was left out of Albion's matchday squad for their New Year's Day home win over Preston and joint-caretaker boss Chris Brunt confirmed that the two clubs had come to an agreement to terminate the loan.

"Villa have asked to call him back," Brunt told BBC Radio WM. "He's not played as much as they would have wanted for a loan player coming out of a Premier League club. We will just have to roll with it and move on."

At Carrow Road, he is viewed as a replacement for midfielder Christian Fassnacht, who re-signed for Swiss side Young Boys on a two-and-a-half-year deal on New Year's Eve.

The Canaries are also keen on Slavia Prague winger Matej Jurasek.

Meanwhile, Louie Barry is being assessed at Villa following his return from Stockport County.

The forward scored 16 goals in 24 games for the League One side and is unlikely to move immediately, but he is expected to be loaned out to the Championship during the January window.

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Aston Villa have recalled young front man Lewis Dobbin from his season-long loan at West Midlands neighbours West Bromwich Albion.

The 21-year-old, who joined Villa from Everton for a reported £10m in the summer, was sent out on loan to the Championship club in early August but made only one league start for Albion, the 1-1 draw against Preston in November, as well as 16 substitute appearances.

But he was not in managerless Albion's matchday squad for the New Year's Day 3-1 home win over North End - and joint-caretaker boss Chris Brunt confirmed that the two clubs have come to an agreement to terminate the loan.

"Villa have asked to call him back," Brunt told BBC Radio WM. "He's not played as much as they'd have wanted for a loan player coming out of a Premier League club.

"We'll just have to roll with it and move on, but it's an opportunity for our younger players."

While Dobbin has gone, Albion have had better news on midfielder Alex Mowatt and defender Mason Holgate following scans on groin injuries.

"Hopefully, it's not as bad as initially feared," Brunt added. "It's too soon to say about Saturday - but the more the merrier in terms of bodies going to Swansea. It's a hard old slog at this time of the season and you have to manage it the best you can."

After losing Carlos Corberan to Valencia on Christmas Eve, then starting with a Boxing Day defeat at Derby, the three-man caretaker management team of Brunt, Boaz Myhill and Damia Abella have now picked up four points from two games - a draw at Sheffield United and now the Baggies' first haul of more than two goals in a home match since beating Preston 3-0 last May.

But Brunt laughed off the idea that he might now be in danger of keeping the job.

"I'm relatively inexperienced for anything like that," he said. "But I'll carry on trying to give my best for the club, as I always did as a player, until hopefully the right person is appointed. I'm not sure what the script is from above but we'll just keep plodding away until we're told otherwise."

We asked you to tell us what Aston Villa's New Year's resolution should be.

Here are some of your replies:

Ian: We need to find a way to get Mings back into the starting XI. Villa are currently too easy to score against and have been for some time. Mings offers huge defensive presence and leadership on the pitch, both of which we are sorely lacking in our side right now.

Matt: We need to sort out the Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins situation. Both are great goalscorers but we need to find a way for them to play with each other.

Ryan: We must stay awake at the start of matches and stop conceding in the first 10 minutes. Too many matches this season have started with an uphill struggle.

Sam: To get a new right-back and some cover on the wings. Cash is not good enough. McGinn is keeping Bailey out, but he isn't a winger. Ramsey is a complete sick-note. So we need depth on the left and right wings, who are capable of seeing the season out and lifting us up into serious top-four contention.

Mark: Our New Year's resolution should be to stop dropping points from winning positions. We should be in the top four but lapses in concentration have cost us.

Mike: To play like we believe that we can break into the top four and to become consistent in our application, as opposed to being brilliant in one game and unrecognisable in the next!

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says centre-back Pau Torres may be out for two months after suffering a metatarsal injury during Monday's draw with Brighton.

Emery told BBC Radio WM he and the club will have to analyse the situation "deeply" to decide whether it will have any impact on what business they do during the January transfer window.

Villa, who have the options of Diego Carlos, Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa in the absence of Torres, have a minus three goal difference in the Premier League but that is not a concern to the Villa boss.

"Our analysis is overall we are more or less being consistent because we are finishing this year in Champions League and being in good form there.

"In the league it's been tight. There are a lot of teams within a few points behind and in front of us. We have to try to keep being consistent starting [from] now and in the second part of the season go in the same direction.

"We have to improve a little bit because [we have] 29 points more or less [at halfway] and 58 is maybe needed for Europe this year. Of course, we lost some points and it's our fault about those points. That is maybe the only difference from being better than we could be."

Listen to Emery speaking to BBC Radio WM on BBC Sounds

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We asked for your thoughts after Monday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Brighton.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans:

Ian: Continually reminded how much we miss Diaby. The amount of times Bailey and Watkins could have been away with an extra yard of pace.

Mike: Unai is a brilliant manager, but even he can only do so much with the players at his disposal. Having to sell two players that are exactly what we need at this time - and arguably our best players at that time - is now showing in the levels we are able to achieve! We need replacements for Diaby and Douglas pronto, as well as a CB, RB and RW! January is not going to be the window to do it either sadly so more flogging of a dying horse to come I fear!

Andy: Very frustrated with the result. Our defence is shambolic at times. Unai should have made the substitutions much earlier as the midfield look shattered which gave Brighton the chance to equalise. Watkins has to be more clinical with his chances otherwise unfortunately he will find himself back on the bench when Duran is back available. Mid-table mediocrity beckons.

Steve: Symptomatic of our season. Some very good general play but mistakes in both boxes. So wasteful every game and weak mentality. Both goals conceded through the right back channel again. This season will either turn around or fizzle out. Fingers crossed Unai has the answers.

Brighton fans:

Sarah: 2-2 was probably a fair result, although I don't think the Pedro penalty should have stood. Brighton had more possession: 64% at 79 minutes. Great goal from Adingra and Lamptey is playing his socks off. Not sure what Igor was doing today. Some effective substitutions finally from Hurzeler, although Minteh needs to sort his boots out, having missed two scoring opportunities from slipping over. After the run of draws we've had with teams we should have beaten, we'll take the draw. Hope to beat Arsenal on Saturday! That's the Brighton way: perverse, but keeps us on our toes.

Mohan: Brighton looked great in periods, but we really need to stop making naive defensive errors. They have cost us a lot this season. Good fight from the team to get the draw though.

Billy: Delighted to see Tariq back on the scoresheet. He has had such bad luck with injuries but when he's fit he always gives the seagulls 100% and is a real live wire!

Hugh: Ooof. Another two points dropped. But Brighton can fairly say they were hard done by with that VAR decision. Anything that takes that long to decide is not a clear and obvious error! I'm a firm believer that Hurzeler will find a way to turn these draws into three pointers and we're being entertained in the mean time. Great to see Adingra and Lamptey on the scoreboard. I also love to watch Rutter run through traffic with the ball and Pedro's perseverance!

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Ollie Watkins has scored more Premier League goals against Brighton than against any other side for Aston Villa (7). The striker has now scored three goals in his last four starts in the competition.

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to Sky Sports: "We played a very fantastic match more or less only the first 20 minutes we started lower than we were planning and we conceded one goal.

"We reacted and came back with 2-1. I have to accept it but I am a little bit frustrated with it. The table is very tight but we are in the race for the second part of the season.

"The result is at risk when you score one goal. We created some attacking third action and the corner we had with Ollie Watkins was maybe the key moment to win the match. We are ninth in the table and we have to try to start again against Leicester.

On Tyrone Mings: "He will be OK. He was just tired. He has his process of getting minutes and getting confidence. Hopefully, we will be OK for Saturday.

"We have to be proud of the year. We have to try to accept it and be happy with the result we had in 2024. Happy New Year to everybody."

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Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We've been in that position a few times this season and we've failed to see it out.

"We didn't lose but we should have taken all three points. It's always nice to score and provide for my team-mates. That's what I'm there to do after a few games out.

On long VAR wait: "Remain calm. Obviously, with VAR you never know how long it's going to take. I just stay calm and think about other things.

"When we scored, we dropped back and I'm not sure why that was. We weren't clinical in the end. We had a lot of attacks on the transition and we weren't clinical.

"Especially with the Champions League, having a big squad is crucial. We need that quality in the squad."

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport journalist

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Watkins had a point to prove on Monday night.

The England striker had been dropped by manager Unai Emery in favour of Colombian forward Duran in each of Villa's last three matches.

But, with Duran suspended following his dismissal at Newcastle at the weekend, the England striker was given his first start in almost three weeks.

Watkins, playing on his 29th birthday, celebrated the milestone with a goal and an assist.

The livewire striker also went close a number of times with headers and had a chance in the final minute following a corner but fired his effort over the bar from close range.

But, while he and Villa impressed going forward, the hosts lost concentration late on at the back, with Tyrick Lamptey left unmarked in the area to snatch an equaliser.

It meant Villa have now conceded 11 goals in the last 15 minutes of Premier League matches, more than any other side this season.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Brighton's display?

Come back to this page on Tuesday to find a selection of your replies

There are three games in the Premier League on Monday, and we will bring you every moment.

• Ipswich v Chelsea (19:45) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Aston Villa v Brighton (19:45)

• Man Utd v Newcastle (20:00)

Kick-off times are GMT

Follow all the action and reaction

Christmas is boxed off.

We're almost through the confusing days before New Year and January is within touching distance.

And we need your help - what is Aston Villa's New Year's resolution?

It could be a new player to sign, a tactical system to implement, an off-the-pitch matter or something else entirely.

Let us know

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

This week, he takes on musician Emma-Jean Thackray, who is a Leeds fan.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Both of these teams have been quite patchy in recent weeks, which makes them really hard to predict.

Brighton have gone six games without a win and, although they have only lost two of those, they seem to have lost a bit of the spark they had at the start of the season.

That makes me favour Villa more here, especially because they are at home - five of their six league defeats this season have come on the road.

Jhon Duran's suspension is a blow for Unai Emery's side but, unlike a lot of people, I actually think his red card against Newcastle was the right decision.

It is a real sickener for Emery, though. I know he was able to rotate Duran and Ollie Watkins up front, but recently Duran had been starting and scored in four straight games. He seemed to have that jersey nailed down, but when he comes back from his three-game ban, he will have to start again.

In the meantime it is down to Watkins to get Villa some goals. I am backing him to score here and to help them get the three points.

Emma-Jean's prediction: 2-2

Villa are a similar sort of club to Leeds - with a really great history and similar size of fanbase. We had several seasons recently of being right up against each other in the Championship and closely matched in the Premier League too, then all of a sudden Villa have taken off. I am going for a draw.

Read the full predictions and have your say