When Newcastle United previously visited Villa Park, on the penultimate day of last season, they drew 0-0 against the already relegated Aston Villa, slipping closer to the drop themselves as a result. Of the 11 United players who started that day, only two began here – Paul Dummett and Jamaal Lascelles – which says something about the level of turnover at the club over the summer.
Rafael Benítez may have come away with another point on Saturday – and, once more, a sense of frustration after his side missed a plethora of chances to add to Tommy Elphick’s first-half own goal only to see Villa’s Aaron Tshibola nod in an 89th-minute equaliser – but now there is a sense of a club beginning to return to the front foot after four years of back-pedalling.
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