Sky have already made official Newcastle United change that will anger Aston Villa fans

Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Sky rebranded the ‘big six’ as the ‘big seven’. The historic ‘big six’ of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur has had Newcastle added to it.

It came after Newcastle finished fourth in the 2022-23 season and seventh in the Premier League last season. The Magpies have warranted their inclusion as they currently sit third in the Premier League table and have won the Carabao Cup.

Meanwhile, the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are struggling in the bottom half of the table.

But Aston Villa, who recently reached the Champions League quarter-final and have been in the top seven in the Premier League for each of the last three seasons, are a notable omission from the Sky ‘big seven’.

Newcastle face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off) in a match broadcast live on Sky Sports that is sure to be vital in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery dismisses ‘big six’

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has been consistently dismissive of the so-called ‘big six’ during his time at the club. Only once in the last six seasons have the traditional ‘big six’ finished as the top six clubs in the Premier League table.

Both Villa and Newcastle are on course to finish in the top seven more times than Man United, Spurs and Chelsea in the last three seasons.

“Now it is not a top six but a top seven, top eight or top 10,” Emery said previously. “There are a lot of teams capable of targeting those positions and I want to add Aston Villa into it too.”

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Newcastle United in the ‘big seven’ over Aston Villa

Newcastle’s inclusion in Sky’s ‘big seven’ over Aston Villa has been a source of contention and debate amongst supporters. Villa have played in Europe in each of the last two seasons and finished fourth in the Premier League last season while Newcastle finished seventh last season before finishing fourth the season prior.

But Newcastle’s inclusion can be justified by the fact they are the first side outside of the traditional big six to win a major domestic trophy since the club’s high-profile takeover in 2021.

Newcastle head into Saturday’s match sitting five points ahead of Villa in the Premier League table.

Looking ahead to the match, Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall said: “Yeah, it's going to be an incredibly tough game. They've only lost once at home this season, which was right early on against Arsenal, so we know what type of challenge we're going to be facing.

“I think they've won 10 of their last 11 in all competitions. They’re on a similar run of form to ourselves at the minute, and obviously they're trying to achieve the same goal as we are.

“It's going to be a real tough game and the atmosphere at Villa Park is always great and it’ll be two teams that are going to go out there to try and win the game.”

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