First, Newcastle tomorrow, trust and hope and match facts from the BBC

So, it’s finally here. The start of a new football season and I know you’ve all seen me write this before, but this is proper football. None of this Club World Cup or international friendlies or even Club friendlies. This is absolutely what it’s all about.

And I start this season with a degree of optimism and quite a lot of hope. You see and you’ve also seen me write this many times before, the most important person at the Club is the manager and I have a lot of trust in this manager and his team.

I trust him selling Ramsey is the best for Aston Villa. I trust him that having a fairly quiet transfer window is the best for Aston Villa. I trust our owners that all things factored in, we’re in a good place.

The game itself is broken and I don’t trust the people that run it, but that is another post. Maybe one I’ll get to this season on Footballocracy. You never know!

And you’ve also seen me write many times before that my target for the coming season is always to do better than the season before and I think that has happened under this manager.

League wise, we didn’t do as well last season but all things considered, I think we had a better season. I also think that because we haven’t made that many changes this season, that we can get better this season.

And it is that simple for me. You see, we’ve not had it this good for such a long time. And it all starts tomorrow against Newcastle. And I can’t wait.

Although the season really does start tonight and I’m going to say it, I don’t think we’re going to see a Liverpool side like we did last season because I think they’ve made too many changes.

I’m also going to say, don’t forget to join the FPL here. It’s going to be a good one this season!

Match facts from the BBC

• Aston Villa beat Newcastle 4-1 in April, but haven’t won consecutive Premier League games against the Magpies since completing the double over them in 2004-05.

• Newcastle have lost five of their last six Premier League away games against Aston Villa, with the exception being a 3-1 victory in January 2024.

• This is the second time in the last three seasons Aston Villa and Newcastle have met in their opening league match of the season, with the Magpies winning 5-1 at St. James’ Park in 2023-24.

• Aston Villa won 2-1 at West Ham in their opening Premier League match last season, last winning on MD1 in consecutive campaigns between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

• Newcastle have won their opening league match in each of the last three seasons, more times than they had in the previous 14 campaigns combined (W2 D4 L8).

• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last 21 home games in all competitions (W15 D6), winning the last eight in a row. It’s their longest run without defeat at Villa Park since a run of 24 between September 1976 and May 1977.

• Though they still secured a top-five finish to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, Newcastle lost their last two Premier League games of 2024-25 (0-1 v Arsenal, 0-1 vs Everton). They last lost more consecutive games in December/January in 2023-24 (4), while they last did so without scoring in January 2021 (3).

• Ollie Watkins – who became Aston Villa’s highest ever Premier League goalscorer last season – has scored in all four of his Premier League home games against Newcastle (5 goals). He also has two assists in these four games, only having a hand in more home league goals for the Villans against Brighton (8).

• From April until the end of the 2024-25 season, Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers assisted more Premier League goals than any other player (6). Across the full season, Rogers assisted 10 goals in open play, with only Mohamed Salah (18) and Jacob Murphy (11) having more.

• Newcastle striker Alexander Isak has scored 11 goals in his last 13 Premier League away games. Since the first game in this run (October 27th), only Mohamed Salah has scored more on the road than the Swede (13).

So, all that written, we’re also going to have a little fun. I’ve created this form on Google and I’m asking for your predictions. All of these will be saved and at the end of the season, we’re going to have an awards ceremony based on how you answer these. There will be prizes! You have until August 23rd to make your predictions.

Also and the chances of this happening are quite slim, but I’m going to do my best and it’s the season why this post title has First on it. For every day this season, I’m going to try and post.

Every single bloody day! Up the Villa lads, see you tomorrow.