Aston Villa's stadium rebuild under scrutiny as home form slumps

'No excuses' as Villa's home troubles continue

"No excuses," said Unai Emery, as Aston Villa grapple with a run of poor home form while the North Stand at Villa Park is rebuilt. Villa are yet to win at home this season, having drawn 2-2 with Brentford on Saturday, when Kristoffer Ajer scored a late equaliser for the visitors and Nicolas Jackson levelled for Villa.

The North Stand is currently a shell and closed for building work as the club increases the stadium's capacity to over 50,000. The project is part of Villa's plan to bridge the financial gap in the Premier League, but the club may have to endure short-term pain for long-term gain. Villa Park's capacity is currently around 37,000.

Emery acknowledges the challenge

Emery, who had already expressed frustration after the defeat to Nottingham Forest last month, was candid about the situation.

"Our handicap is less supporters for the situation, but the club decided it. It is something to improve us for the future," said the Spaniard. "We must try to be together and without 7,000 supporters we must push everyone. We must play better football, compete better, be more focused. Those are more important than the stand."

"We are realistic with how we are working, improving. The things are not [good] enough yet, a lot of conversations with the team, meetings, video, practising and each match trying to show and improve."

Cash: 'You can't make excuses'

Defender Matty Cash acknowledged the difference the building work has made.

"Over the last few years our home form has been amazing, especially in Europe. We need to get back to that. I don't want to sound like I am making excuses, because obviously we have to deal with the circumstances and it is really good to make the stand bigger and the stadium bigger, but it is obviously different. I am not going to sit here and lie and say it isn't but you have to deal with the circumstances. You can't make excuses. You have to play what is in front of you. When it is done it will be amazing but yeah, at the moment it is a bit different."

From invincible to insecure

Villa's home struggles are a departure from recent history. Between November 2022 and January 2026, they lost just eight of 61 home Premier League games, winning 44 of them, including a run of 15 straight wins between March 2023 and December 2023. Since the turn of the year, however, they have looked fragile at home. Defeats to Everton, Brentford, Chelsea and Tottenham threatened their top-four place last season, and Villa needed late goals to draw with Leeds and to beat Brighton and Sunderland.

Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Brentford have all taken points at Villa Park this season. Brentford boss Keith Andrews said he hated playing when one stand was missing.

Europe offers a chance to regroup

Villa have lost just once at home in Europe under Emery, against Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League semi-final in 2024. Emery ended their wait for silverware by lifting the Europa League in May. Champions League football returns to Villa Park on Wednesday against Fenerbahce, who have scored 11 goals in their last two games, including an 8-0 win over Eyupspor. Marcos Asensio, who scored eight goals during a loan spell from Paris St-Germain in 2025, scored in Saturday's 3-0 win over Rizespor.

Villa's Champions League league phase continues on 21 October against Club Brugge rivals Viking, with Birmingham as the venue. "It is a massive test against a good team but we need to be winning these games," added Cash. "That is the bar we have set for ourselves. Hopefully we can make it loud - three-stand loud."