Football Season Guide

Aston Villa more or less spent all last season worrying about relegation and at certain times throughout the season it is fair to say they looked doomed. Paul Lambert's young and relatively inexperienced side were always going to find the going tough, so to end the season in fifteenth place, five points clear of the drop zone, was all in all a satisfactory conclusion. Things ended up tight in the bottom half of the table, and indeed Villa were only five points shy of ninth placed Swansea City when everyone wrapped up for the summer. Lambert is of the belief that his side will only get better with age and experience and that season 2013/14 will see them improve and gel as a unit. A lot will depend on last season's top scorer Christian Benteke - whether he stays at the club, and if so if he can repeat or closely match last years impressive haul of nineteen goals. Gabby Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann got their act together towards the end of last season and finished with sixteen goals between them, but without Benteke's all round game and influence, its hard to see them improving their tally significantly. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had a great campaign last season, but overall Villa conceded far too many goals. Things will need to be tightened up at the back considerably.