'No excuses' - but is Villa's stadium rebuild affecting team?
With Villa Park's North Stand currently closed for building work, is the reduced capacity affecting Aston Villa's performances?
Key points
- Aston Villa have not won at home this season after a 2-2 draw with Brentford, with the North Stand closed for rebuilding.
- Villa Park's capacity is reduced to around 37,000 during the work, which aims to raise it above 50,000.
- Head coach Unai Emery and defender Matty Cash said the missing supporters are a factor but not an excuse for the team's home form.
Aston Villa are still without a home win this season after Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brentford at Villa Park, where the North Stand is closed for rebuilding work. The club is expanding the stadium's capacity to over 50,000 as part of a plan to close the financial gap in the Premier League.
Villa Park's capacity is currently around 37,000 because of the closed stand. Head coach Unai Emery and defender Matty Cash both addressed the impact of the reduced crowd on the team's home performances.
What Emery and Cash said
Emery said the missing supporters were a handicap but that the club made the decision for future improvement. "We must play better football, compete better, be more focused. Those are more important than the stand," he said.
Cash said he did not want to sound like he was making excuses but acknowledged the situation was different. "When it is done it will be amazing but yeah, at the moment it is a bit different," he said.
Our handicap is less supporters for the situation, but the club decided it. It is something to improve us for the future.
— Unai Emery
Home form and upcoming tests
Villa have lost just once at home in Europe under Emery, against Olympiacos in the 2024 Europa Conference League semi-final. Fenerbahce visit on Wednesday in the Champions League, with Marcos Asensio, who scored eight goals on loan at Villa in 2025, in their squad.
Since the turn of the year, Villa's home Premier League record has declined. Between November 2022 and January 2026 they lost eight of 61 home league games, but defeats by Everton, Brentford, Chelsea and Tottenham last season threatened their top-four place. Arsenal and Nottingham Forest have already won at Villa Park this season.
