Aston Villa

David Michael
Fan writer

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The last two weeks of January will play an influential part in shaping Aston Villa's season.

First, Villa must address their away form, which is fast becoming a glaring issue. Ranked 14th in the Premier League for points gained on the road, their five consecutive away league losses have highlighted vulnerabilities that need addressing.

This week's trips to Everton and Arsenal present an immediate opportunity to reverse their fortunes. If Villa are serious about securing European football next season, they will be targeting at least three points from the two games.

A third consecutive away trip sees them travel to Monaco in the Champions League, in the first of their two concluding group games this month.

Currently sitting fifth in the Champions League table, Villa must aim for a minimum of four points that will hopefully secure a top-eight finish and a coveted last-16 spot.

Not only would this guarantee an extra 10m euro (£8.4m) in prize money, but it would also free up February's schedule of Champions League commitments. Otherwise, a congested calendar - including a potential 48-hour turnaround between an FA Cup tie against Tottenham and a European play-off game - could complicate and potentially derail Villa's progress on multiple fronts.

The January transfer window is also finally heating up. A deal for Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen has been reported as a done, but Villa will also be hopeful that PSR can be navigated and a move for at least one much-needed defensive reinforcement can be completed.

With so much at stake, these next two weeks are a pivotal step to increasing the stakes at the business end of Villa's season.

Find more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external

Aston Villa have agreed a £19m deal to sign Netherlands forward Donyell Malen, 25, from Borussia Dortmund. (Athletic - subscription required, external)

Villa have also opened discussions with Sevilla as they look to sign 24-year-old France defender Loic Bade. (L'Equipe - in French, external)

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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There has been a lot of talk about FA Cup replays being scrapped, which was done because of the expanded European competitions.

But there are still potential problems.

Aston Villa have been drawn at home to Tottenham in the fourth round.

Spurs play the previous Thursday - 6 February - at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.

In theory, that means the FA Cup tie at Villa Park should be played on Sunday, 9 February or Monday, 10 February.

But the midweek that follows is for Champions League play-offs. If Villa find themselves outside the top eight, they may have to play on 11 February.

Villa can deal with it by maintaining their current fifth spot.

But if they do not, they will not know when their play-off is scheduled for until Friday, 31 January.

The draw for the FA Cup fourth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties involving Premier League teams in the order they were drawn.

Games will be played over the weekend of 8 February.

• Manchester United v Leicester

• Brighton v Chelsea

• Exeter v Nottingham Forest

• Coventry v Ipswich

• Blackburn v Wolves

• Mansfield/Wigan v Fulham

• Birmingham v Newcastle

• Plymouth v Liverpool

• Everton v Bournemouth

• Aston Villa v Tottenham

• Southampton v Burnley

• Leyton Orient/Derby v Manchester City

• Doncaster v Crystal Palace

See the full draw

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We asked for your thoughts after Friday's FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and West Ham.

Here are some of your comments:

Aston Villa fans

Davey: Slow start and dire first half, and Irons got out the traps quickly with the Graham Potter bounce. Second half we were on it and Amadou Onana made a difference in midfield. Ollie Watkins industrious as ever! Good win on our 150 years.

Richard: In some ways, a great Villa performance. Able to adjust tempo now, and clearly adapt to opposition. Ian Maatsen went well. Great to see Jacob Ramsey fit again, and really pleased for Robin Olsen, who often draws the short straw. Ollie grew into things too. Not sure a long cup run is needed, but who knows. Like the anniversary shirt too.

Jason: One corner was given and a previous one wasn't. These things happen. The best team won in the end. UTV.

West Ham fans

Bill: Thought that the West Ham performance was much better than of late. Think we should have at least ended in a draw and chanced our luck with penalties. Shame the ref and linesman got it wrong to allow Villa to get their equaliser but that's football for you. I'm optimistic that the Hammers can push on in the Premier League now.

Stpehen: A significant and immediate improvement. High press in first half was effective but may have affected the team's last 20 minutes. The team's younger talent shone through, though it exposed a couple of the older members who will be gone by the end of the season. Great evening for Oliver Scarles and Crysencio Summerville. Even Lucas Paqueta seemed reinvigorated. Score not that relevant in this instance. Importance of clear language and instructions so important with managers. Well done, Potter.

Garry: I've been a West Ham fan through the dark times and good but Friday I saw a lot of positives and it was a typical game of two halves. First half, West Ham were good but the injuries took the sting out of the game and Villa took control. Overall, for a manger who only had little preparation with the team, the signs look good.

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The FA Cup third round is well under way, with Premier League sides Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa the clubs already booking their places in the fourth-round draw with wins on Thursday and Friday.

But for other sides hoping for a healthy cup run this season, when will the draw take place?

The draw will be live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer following the conclusion of the Arsenal v Manchester United tie, which kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

It will include 32 teams - with all third-round matches this weekend settled on the day - and the resulting ties will be played over the weekend commencing Saturday, 8 February.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of West Ham's display?

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

BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton has made his predictions for all 32 FA Cup third round games and given his verdict on who will make it into round four.

For this week's matches he is up against actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Julen Lopetegui never felt like the right fit for West Ham, and we are about to find out whether Graham Potter can do any better.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is still fighting on the European front in the Champions League, as well as trying to get back in it for next season.

That has placed huge demands on his squad already - so you could argue that they don't need a cup run too - but I still think they will go through, especially because West Ham are badly missing the injured Jarrod Bowen up front.

Billy's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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This is the first FA Cup meeting between Aston Villa and West Ham since March 1980, with the Hammers edging the quarter-final tie 1-0 on their way to winning the trophy.

Aston Villa have entered negotiations with Ligue 2 club Caen for French 18-year-old forward Tidiam Gomis. (L'Equipe - in French, external)

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

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Friday's FA Cup third round game at home to West Ham (20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery confirmed John McGinn will not be available for the game but did not offer an answer when questioned over whether his captain is likely to return next week.

• On Jadon Philogene, who is set for a £20m move to Ipswich, Emery said: "I believe in Jadon Philogene but we are always trying to get the best for the club and the squad and the players. If he is leaving it is because he is good for those three options."

• Emery added "the club is working" in the transfer market.

• On what the FA Cup means to his side: "Our objective is to be contenders for the trophy and of course the winner next year will play in the Europa League. We are home as well. Our objective is clear for the second part of the season."

• He wants a better performance in the competition than he has seen in his first two campaigns in charge: "Tomorrow the idea is to be competitive and to start performing better than the last two years and trying to get through this competition. It is one option for a trophy and one option for Europe."

• On the Hammers and their news boss Graham Potter: "West Ham have very good players, it is a good club as well. It is not good news when they are changing the coach but we are going to respect West Ham and respect Potter because he was successful coaching before in England, he has experience, and I think he is going to do good work."

• Villa will be marking their 150th anniversary and Emery said: "I spend my life here. At the moment two years but hopefully for a long time. It is something important in my life as a coach and as well living here and chatting with our supporters and everything for the history they have. We are trying to do something important now in different competitions. I am very proud of the history they and the history we can create."

Follow all of Thursday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to full commentary of Aston Villa v West Ham at 20:00 on Friday on BBC Radio 5 Live

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We asked you to tell us one thing - good or bad - that nobody seems to be talking about at Villa Park.

Here are some of your comments:

Bobby: The whole club is built around Unai Emery - when he goes, and he will at some point, the whole infrastructure goes with him. It could be a disaster.

Ian: A few good additions will put us in a great place and I am sure Unai will know what he needs to improve the team. My biggest concern is the redevelopment of Villa Park, or should I say the lack of. We need to reinstate the development of the North Stand and we should fill in the corners at the Holte End, which I am sure would increase our capacity to the 60,000 we need to compete at the top end of the Premier League and can help in reducing the very expensive ticket prices - a win-win all round.

Prit: I think we should now be seriously considering whether it is time to cash in Ollie Watkins. We have a younger Jhon Duran, hopefully Louie Barry will get some good experience in the Championship and be ready next season, so why not cash in on Watkins now?

Pauline: Watkins has been a let-down this season. More missed chances and a few assists does not make us a definite European contender next season. Think we will end mid-table!

Oz: The amount of goals we are conceding is a worry. We need a new right-back because Matty Cash is a liability. Keep Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings in the centre and give Ian Maatsen a continuous run of games.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Aston Villa's Jaden Philogene is due for a medical at Ipswich ahead of a permanent move to Portman Road.

The winger is expected to complete the switch for around £20m plus add ons, ending his brief six-month return to Villa Park.

Philogene also had European interest, including from La Liga, but Ipswich are due to finally end their pursuit of the England Under-21 international.

They agreed a fee of around £18m with Hull in the summer only for Villa to activate their buy-back option - having sold Philogene to the Tigers in 2023.

Hull received about £13.5m of the fee because Villa had a 30% sell-on clause in the agreement which took him to the KC Stadium.

The 22-year-old chose to rejoin Unai Emery's side but has managed just four starts, including against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and 11 substitute appearances.

Ipswich maintained their interest and have now convinced Philogene - who was keen on working with boss Kieran McKenna last summer - to move to Suffolk.

The Tractor Boys are looking to add to their squad as they battle for survival and have already signed defender Ben Godfrey on loan from Atalanta.

Aston Villa are tracking Borussia Dortmund's English winger Jamie Jermaine Bynoe-Gittens, 20. (Caught Offside), external

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

After a shaky run of form at the end of 2024, Aston Villa started off the New Year strongly with a victory against a struggling Leicester side.

Next for the Villains is West Ham, who may have a new manager by the time Friday's fixture kicks off. Unai's Emery's men will be looking to capitalise on the Hammers' uncertainty and book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.

As we pass the halfway point of the season, we want you to tell us the one thing -good or bad - that no-one is talking about right now?

Have your say - and come back on Thursday for a selection of replies

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

When a goalkeeper hits the ball long, the success of it is very dependent on their team-mates picking up the second ball, otherwise possession is quickly conceded to the opponent.

Playing out from the back means the team with the ball is in control of play, but obviously there is more of the pitch to cover and more opposition players to play through.

Depending on the set up of the opposition, there are a variety of tactics a team can employ from a goal-kick.

Playing it short draws the opponent towards the attacking team's defenders which, in turn, creates space behind them.

If the attacking team is able to successfully exploit it, they can very quickly get up the pitch, with their opponents out of shape, and create a chance on goal.

Aston Villa did this to great effect against Manchester City on 21 December, with the ball taking just 14 seconds to go from the feet of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to the back of the opposition net for their first goal in a 2-1 victory.

Read more from Gary about the evolution of the goalkeeper