Villa knew they needed a defensive midfielder in the summer. Their failure to sign one has left them in a precarious position
By Martin Laurence for WhoScored
Venture back a couple of weeks to Villa Park and, with 10 minutes to play against Midlands rivals Wolves, Villa hold a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead. Seeing that win out would have left Villa with 13 points after eight games, putting them just two points off the top four. Instead, after a shambolic late collapse to Bruno Lage’s side and subsequent defeats to
Arsenal and West Ham, Villa’s position is a suddenly precarious one. Rather than gazing up at the top four, they are glancing down at the relegation zone.
Villa are in a terrible run of form, having lost four league games in a row. Greuther Furth, who were promoted to the Bundesliga this season, are the only club in Europe’s top five leagues on a longer losing streak. Villa have not lost five straight league games since February 2017, when they were in the Championship under Steve Bruce. With a trip to Southampton – who have picked up seven points from their last available nine – coming up at the weekend, the pressure is mounting on Dean Smith.