Aston Villa FPL Guide 2026/27

• DEFCON: centre-backs and full-backs who rack up tackles, blocks, clearances and interceptions now have a second scoring route beyond clean sheets.
• Fixtures: check Aston Villa's opening run on the FPL fixture list and the GW1 preview above before locking premiums.
• Prices: every Aston Villa price is on FPL prices : then play free on Gameweek Fantasy.
• Differentials: looking for a low-owned Aston Villa pick? Check FPL Differentials.

Watkins at £7.8m is still the obvious focal point of Villa's attack, but he's got real company now: Nicolas Jackson arrived from Chelsea at £6.5m to fight for the same striker role, and Alejandro Garnacho joined on loan at £5.9m, choosing Villa specifically for the Champions League football they qualified for by finishing in the top five. The defence is uniformly cheap across the board, £4.0-4.5m — Konsa, Torres, Cash, Digne and new arrival Matteo Ruggeri from Atlético — with Zion Suzuki now first choice in goal at £5.0m after Emiliano Martínez's move to Chelsea. One reliable scorer, one exciting winger, and a full defence at enabler prices — that combination makes Villa one of the most budget-efficient squads in the game right now.

• ↓ INAlejandro Garnacho, On loan from Chelsea with a conditional obligation to buy (reported ~£42.5m). Scored 8 in 43 for Chelsea last season; joined for Champions League football. £6.0m.
• ↓ INMatteo Ruggeri, From Atlético Madrid. Italian left-back who adds cover and competition for Lucas Digne at £4.5m.
• ↓ INZion Suzuki, Japanese goalkeeper, new to the Premier League. £5.0m, now first-choice after Martínez's departure.
• ↑ OUTEmiliano Martínez, To Chelsea. Villa's long-time No.1 goalkeeper; Zion Suzuki takes over the gloves at £5.0m.

Watkins at £7.8m is still the safer of Villa's two premium options — long-established first choice, and the one source of goal threat the rest of the squad genuinely lacks. Jackson at £6.5m is now real competition for that shirt since his move from Chelsea, so check the lineup before starting either one blind. Outside those two, nothing else at the club breaks £6.0m, which tells you exactly where the bulk of Villa's returns are expected to come from this season.

This is where Villa actually earn their reputation. Konsa, Torres, Cash, Digne, Ruggeri, Mings, Maatsen and Lindelöf all sit at £4.5m, with Nedeljkovic just under at £4.0m — an entire top-half defence at enabler prices, which is genuinely unusual for a club at this level. Suzuki at £5.0m has taken over the gloves since Martínez left for Chelsea, with Bizot at £4.5m as backup. Cash and Digne are the two worth picking if you want attacking full-back upside layered on top of the clean sheets.

Watkins is really the only Villa name worth the armband, and even then only in the right spot — home to bottom-half opposition, where Villa control games and generate real volume. Away, or against the other top-six sides, their chance creation drops off fast, and I'd move the captaincy to a premium attacker elsewhere in those weeks. Treat him as a situational captain, not a set-and-forget one.

Garnacho at £5.9m is the differential worth knowing — a winger who'd cost far more elsewhere, priced like a mid-table squad player purely because his future was still unresolved when the game set his value. Manzambi and Buendía at the same price are the other low-ownership creative options, Buendía with the added set-piece threat. Guessand and Bailey at £5.4m are the wide alternatives capable of a surprise haul, and McGinn and Gomes at £5.5m offer goal threat from midfield alongside defensive contribution points. Jack Taylor, in from Ipswich at £4.5m, is a budget defensive route, and Ibrahim M'Baye and Diego León, both new arrivals at £6.0m, are worth watching once either settles into the side.

Tammy Abraham at £5.5m is a backup striker behind Watkins and rarely worth the squad slot. Villa's midfield is genuinely crowded — Kamara, Onana, Barkley, McGinn, Gomes, Bailey, Buendía and Guessand all fighting for a handful of berths, which makes minutes hard to call in advance. And while that £4.5m defence is cheap, I wouldn't stack three of them: Villa concede in clusters against the stronger attacking sides, so one or two is the sensible limit.