Aston Villa - players.bio

'Let me finish!' - Every word of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher's furious Manchester United debate

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville and Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher clashed live on Sky Sports after the Reds' disappointing defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Aston Villa extend winning home run against Luton

Aston Villa continued their impressive home form as they beat Luton 3-1 to rack up a 12th successive Premier League win at Villa Park. Unai Emery's side have won every home league game since February 18 and made light work of the Hatters, with goals from John McGinn and Moussa Diaby giving them the upper hand before Luton captain Tom Lockyer put through his own net. Villa have scored 13 goals in the last three Premier League home games as Emery's team continue to show they are early contenders for the top four this season. And with games against Nottingham Forest and Fulham coming up, they have a chance to solidify their position in the race before a clash with leaders Tottenham on November 26. This was a seventh defeat in 10 top-flight games for Luton, who have quickly found out how demanding life can be in the Premier League, though they did get on the scoresheet when Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez scored a late own goal. They were up against it from the start as Villa were quick onto the attack and could have led inside four minutes. Ollie Watkins collected a cross and teed up Nicolo Zaniolo, but the Italian's cushioned effort drifted just wide of the post. Only a brilliant double save from Thomas Kaminski stopped Villa from breaking the deadlock in the 11th minute as he superbly spread himself to block Watkins' close-range effort and then reacted quickly to stop the follow-up effort. There was no surprise when the hosts went ahead in the 17th minute and it was another masterpiece from set-piece coach Austin MacPhee's playbook. Douglas Luiz's low corner was dummied by Moussa Diaby and it ended up with McGinn at the far post, with the Scotland international shifting the ball past Chiedozie Ogbene and into the far

Aston Villa prove European credentials with triumph at AZ Alkmaar – Unai Emery

Boss Unai Emery believes Aston Villa proved their European credentials after an emphatic 4-1 win at AZ Alkmaar.

Watkins on target again as Aston Villa cruise past AZ Alkmaar

Ollie Watkins continued his red-hot form as Aston Villa cruised to a statement 4-1 Europa Conference League win at AZ Alkmaar. The striker netted his 10th goal of the season and fourth in Europe this season on Thursday. Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans - his first for Villa - put them in control in AZ Stadium after less than 25 minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis wasted the hosts' best chances but Watkins and John McGinn added more goals after the break in Holland before Ibrahim Sadiq grabbed a consolation. It was the second time in two games Villa had scored four after their 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Sunday. Unai Emery celebrated a year in charge on Tuesday and victory underlined the progress his side have made, having been floundering in 14th and three points above the relegation zone 12 months ago. Villa host Alkmaar in two weeks knowing victory would see them take a giant leap to the knock-out stages, especially following an opening 3-2 defeat at Legia Warsaw in September. After two games in Group E, all four teams were locked on three points but Villa moved to remedy that quickly, opening the scoring just 13 minutes in. Watkins seized on a loose pass from Yukinari Sugawara and, while Boubacar Kamara's ball was cut out, it fell for Bailey to control and rifle in low from the edge of the box. Alkmaar cried handball but the goal stood and 10 minutes later, the hosts were 2-0 down. Another poor pass, this time from Sven Mijnans, went straight to McGinn and his angled pass found Tielemans to bag his first Villa goal. Yet, 90 seconds later, the hosts should have pulled a goal back when Pavlidis fired over with just Emi Martinez to beat after Kamara was dispossessed on the edge of the box. Pavlidis had a goal