{"id":46165,"date":"2020-09-13T02:18:55","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T15:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/transfer-and-early-season-expectations\/"},"modified":"2020-09-16T04:53:22","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T17:53:22","slug":"transfer-and-early-season-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/transfer-and-early-season-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfer and early season expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa will head into the 2020\/21 season believing that they can fire themselves up the Premier League table after narrowly avoiding relegation last term.<\/p>\n

Villa ended the campaign in 17th place, but with manager Dean Smith set to improve his squad the club should be in for a brighter future.<\/p>\n

Fans have plenty to look forward to during the early part of the season, with the schedule throwing up some eye-catching fixtures.\u00a0The games will give betting-minded fans the opportunity to back their predictions, and if you want to make a head start in online betting try cashing in on these horse racing tips<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the new season just a couple of weeks away, we look at the latest state-of-play on the transfer front at Villa Part and assess the club\u2019s chances of getting off to a positive start.<\/p>\n

Martinez Move Makes Perfect Sense<\/h3>\n

Villa had the second worst defensive record in the top-flight last season and that issue needs to be addressed if they want to climb the standings.<\/p>\n

The club has been linked with a move for Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez<\/a> and he would undoubtedly be an upgrade on their current options.<\/p>\n

The Argentine impressed for the Gunners towards the back end of last season and played a key role in their success in the FA Cup.<\/p>\n

However, with Bernd Leno expected to retain his status as number one, Arsenal are believed to be open to offers for Martinez.<\/p>\n

\"Abraham<\/p>\n

Abraham Return Would be a Major Boost<\/h3>\n

Smith is keen to add to quality to his forward line this summer and is rumoured to be interested in bringing Tammy Abraham back to the club on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old is likely to be pushed down the pecking order at Chelsea following the arrival of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n

Abraham has said that he is willing to fight for his place, but the opportunity to be first choice at Villa could be too good to turn down.<\/p>\n

The striker would be welcomed back with open arms by Villa fans after impressing on loan<\/a> and his return would be a major boost for the club.<\/p>\n

Opening Fixtures Offer Opportunities for Points<\/h3>\n

Villa will have an extra week to prepare for the new season<\/a>, with their opening game at Manchester City postponed due to their involvement in Europe during August.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s team kick-off the campaign at home to Sheffield United on September 20, before visiting newly promoted Fulham the following Saturday.<\/p>\n

Villa start their October schedule with a home game against Liverpool and follow up with a trip to Leicester City after the international break.<\/p>\n

They round off the month with home games against Leeds United and Southampton \u2013 both of which should be winnable if they produce their best form.<\/p>\n

Early Season Expectations: If Smith can make the necessary improvements to his squad, Villa should be a capable of making a strong start.<\/em><\/p>\n

A 10-point return isn\u2019t beyond the realms of possibility and would be a great platform to build from for the rest of the campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Transfer and early season expectations<\/a> appeared first on AVFC – Avillafan.com – Aston Villa Fansite, Blog, & Forum..<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa will head into the 2020\/21 season believing that they can fire themselves up the Premier League table after narrowly avoiding relegation last term. Villa ended the campaign in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46165"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46187,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46165\/revisions\/46187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astonvilla.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}