Seven years ago, Ørjan Nyland saved a penalty and Conor Hourihane scored a headed goal to secure three Boxing Day points.
Aston Villa won 1-0 at Swansea City in the Championship in 2018. It was their only win between 1st December and 26th January, and one of only two before March.
You know what happened next. Boxing Day in the following season, back in the Premier League, was another 1-0 win. The victory over Norwich City was Villa’s only one in December 2019. They beat Crystal Palace 3-0 a year later. Imagine!
Villa have come a very long way in a very short space of time. This year, there was no Boxing Day fixture. They visit west London a day later to take on Chelsea.