BIRMINGHAM —- Aston Villa’s defeat on penalties at Brentford in the League Cup on Tuesday deepened the depression sparked by a poor start to the season.

Villa promised so much after reaching the quarter-finalists in the Champions League last season but are without a win in the Premier League in which they sit next to bottom. Manager Unai Emery’s team are also the only team in the four professional divisions of English football without a league goal.

Emery is not under immediate serious threat because he can point to a number of contributory issues, many arising out of failings in the summer transfer window.

Unai Emery . . . pressure building up

Villa finished sixth last season which qualified them for the Europa League in which they kick off against Bologna next week. However January loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio have left along with dynamic midfielder Jacob Ramsey [to Newcastle].

These departures removed attacking pace, movement and directness. New signings such as Cote d’Ivoire forward Evann Guessand, ex-Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott and perpetual wanderer Jadon Sancho are still adapting to their new manager and team-mates. In addition, Emery appears to have lost faith in Ollie Watkins even though the England striker was Villa’s 16-goal league top scorer last season.

The League Cup defeat at Brentford was characteristic of Villa’s poor form because even though Elliott ended the scoring drought they could not force the win.

Villa were handicapped in the transfer market by financial constraints from the PSR financial fairplay rules and lost revenue from lack of Champions League qualification. Thus the squad is short of goal-scoring wingers or players who can make a decisive difference in tight matches.

The next Premier League fixtures offer Villa plenty of opportunities to make up for lost time domestically whatever the outcome of their opening Europa League ties at home to Bologna and then away to Feyenoord. Villa visit promoted Sunderland on Sunday then host Fulham and Burnley before the next international break.

If Villa are still in the bottom three at that point then Emery can start to worry.

####