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It’s hard to tell if Villa have started well or badly this season

Aston Villa are currently fourth in the Championship, unbeaten with nine points from five games this season, but supporters aren’t sure if they’re doing well or slightly underachieving.

Being in a playoff spot so early into the campaign is certainly good, but Villa’s unbeaten start glosses over a three-match win that they’ve failed to win.  Steve Bruce’s men last tasted victory on August 11 with a 3-2 win over Wigan.

  • 6/8/18 (Championship) Hull City 1-3 Aston Villa
  • 11/8/18 (Championship) Aston Villa 3-2 Wigan Athletic
  • 14/8/18 (League Cup) Yeovil Town 0-1 Aston Villa
  • 18/8/18 (Championship) Ipswich Town 1-1 Aston Villa
  • 22/8/18 (Championship) Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford
  • 25/8/18 (Championship) Aston Villa 1-1 Reading

Manager Steve Bruce isn’t satisfied with nine points from a possible 15 and admitted in a post-match interview that Villa should be doing a little better. To have dropped points at home to Brentford and Reading is disappointing and was the reason why Villa had to settle for a playoff place, rather than be in the mix for an automatic promotion spot.

As per the Birmingham Mail, Bruce said: “Unfortunately, we have had a decent start but a few mistakes have cost us dearly. We could have been four points better off but individual errors, which is the one thing you can’t legislate for, have cost us. We should have been in front and away, but we weren’t. We remain unbeaten but we’re disappointed. It could have been a really wonderful start.”

He’s not wrong. Back-to-back wins over Hull and Wigan had fans daring to believe again after a woeful summer of uncertainty, but Villa then couldn’t break down 10-man Ipswich at Portman Road and had to rescue a late point to Brentford. Reading scored late to earn a draw against them on the weekend.

Villa are only four points off the automatic promotion places with 41 more games to play, but home matches against supposedly weaker opponents has to become their bread and butter victories. They can’t keep falling short in games they’re big favourites in otherwise the Villans will continue to lose ground on the frontrunners.

Villa’s home form has been a worry in recent months. Bruce’s men have dropped points in five of their last six league games at Villa Park. An unbeaten start to the new season sounds good but being three games without a win sounds bad. There’s plenty of room for improvement, so at least Bruce has acknowledged that and hasn’t defended results by using Villa’s high league position.

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