The Premier League returned last night to much excitement as Man United beat/lost xxx to Fulham in the season opener at Old Trafford.
It promises to be yet another campaign of drama, and one team hoping to back up a brilliant 2023-24 is Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s side performed superbly to qualify for the Champions League following a memorable season, and it has been a busy summer in the transfer market at Villa Park as they look to replicate that and more.
However, there are still a few question marks that remain surrounding Villa’s squad, while there are challenges associated with backing up such an impressive achievement.
Here, Mail Sport’s TOM COLLOMOSSE provides all the answers.
Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League last season following a memorable campaign
Unai Emery’s side are hoping to back up the achievement and have been busy in the market
Can Aston Villa secure Champions League qualification for a second year in a row?
The odds are against it – just look at Newcastle last season. Throughout the run to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, Villa boss Unai Emery urged his players to adapt to the demands of combining a European campaign with a domestic one.
But by the time they faced eventual winners Olympiacos in the last four, Villa had run out of steam and they will be facing far more accomplished opponents in the Champions League this season.
Managing that transition, while trying to remain ultra-competitive domestically, may prove beyond them.
Villa face the challenge of balancing their top flight commitments with the Champions League
Will the players grow tired of Emery’s demands?
Emery’s exacting training sessions and long afternoons in the video room have worked wonders for Villa, taking them from Premier League strugglers to Champions League qualifiers in less than two years.
But these demands take a huge mental and physical toll and if Villa hit a run of dodgy results, will the squad remain as receptive to their manager as they have since he arrived?
Douglas Luiz was allowed to join Juventus as there was a belief the Brazilian was not as invested in Emery’s regime as he had been at the beginning.
With a new-look squad, Emery and his staff must work hard to ensure everyone is on board.
Unai Emery is a hugely demanding coach, but his players may grow tired if results go awry
Should Villa really do a deal for Joao Felix?
Emery tried to sign the Portuguese attacker from Atletico Madrid last summer but with only the Europa Conference League to offer, Villa were never really in the race and Felix moved to Barcelona on loan instead.
Villa are back in the race this summer and Emery is convinced he can revive Felix, who has lost his way in the last three seasons.
But the cost of the operation, even on loan, is significant: Felix earns about £250,000-a-week in Madrid and his next club will have to pay the majority of it.
There is no doubting Emery’s coaching skill but Felix has never quite fulfilled his potential and at 24, there must be question marks over whether he ever will.
Emery is keen to sign Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, but would a move really make sense?
Can Villa end a trophy drought lasting since 1996?
At Emery’s opening press conference as Villa boss, he pledged to win a trophy. The problem is, he has become a victim of his own success: nobody expects Villa to win the Premier League or Champions League, so that is probably two chances gone.
The Carabao Cup and FA Cup are a different matter, with a full-strength Villa side firmly in the mix in both.
Yet Emery will probably only attack them properly if Villa are eliminated from Europe at the first time of asking, and the Basque has already stated his ambition to secure another top-four finish.
With Champions League qualification so important, the supporters wait for a trophy risks hitting the 30-year mark.
Villa are approaching 30 trophyless years, but Emery may be forced to focus on the league
Do Villa have the muscle to crack the Premier League’s big six?
Forcing your way into the Premier League elite is not just about performing on the pitch. You have to match them off it, too.
That means sponsorship deals, social media engagement and global appeal, and Villa still have work to do in this sense. There has certainly been progress, shown by the eye-catching ‘takeover’ of LED billboards in New York’s Times Square, as well as the kit deal with Adidas.
But the project to improve Villa Park, which had been driven by former chief executive Christian Purslow, has been shelved and this feels like an error.
While nobody wants to play Champions League football in front of a half-built ground, Villa may come to regret this decision in the years ahead, especially if they slip back into the pack.