Aston Villa – Newcastle United

Unai Emery’s charges will be closer to success at their home ground.

Besides the match in Manchester, where one of last season's most unfortunate clubs, London’s Arsenal, will visit, the opening round of the Premier League is notable for a match in Birmingham. Here two teams that have become direct competitors for places in the Champions League of the elite English division in recent years will face each other. Aston Villa and Newcastle are similar in many respects. Both clubs returned to the fight for something serious in the Premier League around the same time and both have become brilliantly realised projects under two talented coaches. Aston Villa dedicated a lot of time to the Champions League last season. The Birmingham club reached the playoffs, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by the eventual winners - PSG. In the return match, the 'Villans' were close to taking the fight into extra time, but Donnarumma performed excellently in goal for the Parisians. Due to unusually high commitments in the European arena, Unai Emery was unable to keep the team in the Champions League places in the Premier League, conceding the last spot to Newcastle based on additional criteria. The 'Magpies' did not compete in European competitions last season, which provided Eddie Howe with a great opportunity to realise the team's potential in the league. Bookmakers have made the home side the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.29 for their victory. Aston Villa did not experience any transfer stress during the off-season. Only those players who were not used in the main squad left the team. Among the acquisitions, it is worth noting Evann Guessand - the former Nice forward, for whom they paid 30 million euros. Newcastle felt it necessary to strengthen significantly ahead of the new season, as the team will be competing in the Champions League. After releasing Callum Wilson as a free agent, the 'Magpies' signed Nottingham Forest forward Anthony Elanga and Milan defender Malick Thiaw, spending a total of around 96 million euros on both. Last season, both matches between the opponents ended with home victories by a wide margin: Newcastle won 3-0, Aston Villa 4-1. It is likely that this trend will carry over to the upcoming clash.