11th. Aston Villa
For long spells of last season it looked like Aston Villa were destined for relegation from the Premier League. We saw them lose 8-0 at Chelsea, 4-1 at Southampton and 4-0 at home to Tottenham and many people were writing Paul Lamberts team off. But they finished 15th, five points clear of the relegation zone and earning some admirers along the way. Despite their precarious position throughout the league season, many people liked what they were doing; playing good football and giving youngsters a chance. We saw what these youngsters are capable of when they blew Liverpool away at Anfield winning 3-1. Now these young players are a year older and have all now at least experienced one season in the Premier League, because of that, I think they will be pushing for a top half finish. I dont think we will see them getting thrashed so frequently this season. Without Christian Bentekes 19 league goals last season Aston Villa would have been relegated. It looked like Benteke would be on his way out of Villa Park after
he handed in a transfer request but his U-turn means I dont think Villa will be in any kind of relegation trouble. I dont think Benteke will quite replicate 19 goals this season but Im sure he will continue to score regularly. Theyve also managed to keep hold of Andreas Weimann who also impressed last season. Lambert has managed to improve his squad again with more youthful signings and he got his business done early which is always good. Key player: Christian Benteke Transfers in so far:
Jores Okore from FC Nordsjaelland for £4 million.
Aleksandar Tonev from Lech Poznan for £2.5 million.
Antonio Luna from Sevilla for £1.5 million.
Nicklas Helenius from Aalborg BK for an undisclosed fee.
Leandro Bacuna from FC Groningen for an undisclosed fee.
Jed Steer from Norwich on a free transfer. Possible team to face Arsenal in their first fixture: GK: Guzan RB: Lowton LB: Luna CB: Vlaar CB: Clark CM: Westwood CM: Delph CM: Bacuna RW: Weimann ST: Benteke LW: Agbonlahor