EFL Cup: Aston Villa embarrassed as League Two side Luton Town add to Championship club's misery
Villa knocked out in the first round as Burton are drawn against heavyweights Liverpool
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Your support makes all the difference.Just hours after new owner Tony Xia vowed Aston Villa will become the "top club in Europe" inside five years the Birmingham side bombed out of the EFL Cup, losing to League Two's Luton.
Villa's embarrassing 3-1 capitulation followed Xia's Twitter question and answer session where the new Chinese owner offered several hugely ambitious pledges.
Asked where he sees Villa in five years' time, Xia said: "The top club in Europe with the highest number of fans all over the world."
Before the day was out Roberto Di Matteo's side suffered a defeat that would have proved crushing enough in isolation, but Xia's bold statements only served to add to the ignominy.
"We went deservedly ahead, and then let Luton back into the game as second half they dominated us and we looked disjointed as a team," Di Matteo said.
"It wasn't a team performance, also difficult to explain from first half to second half how we changed so much."
Villa were the highest-profile first-round casualties in the EFL Cup, before Liverpool were drawn against Championship new boys Burton Albion in the second round.
Burton boss Nigel Clough spent three years at Liverpool in his playing days, and will now square up to Jurgen Klopp in the dugout as the Reds travel to the Pirelli Stadium.
While Burton possess the Championship's smallest budget, Liverpool with eight triumphs are the most successful team in League Cup history.
Luton's reward for beating Villa is a tie against Leeds, who barely crept past Fleetwood on penalties to make it this far.
Burnley will take on League Two's Accrington in a derby clash, while Chelsea will face either Bristol Rovers or Bristol City. If Cardiff beat Bristol Rovers then the Ashton Gate club will head to Chelsea, but if Rovers win they will take on the Premier League club.
Scunthorpe will host either Cardiff or Bristol City in the other half of that protracted draw, complicated by competition seedings.
PA
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