Villa should get out of that group very easily. Portsmouth on the other hand could be in a spot of bother. (It is worth noting at this point that herrenveen beat Ajax 5-2 at the weekend)
QUOTE: What's the minimum number of points you could get, and still qualify?
I'm guessing at two. It can't be one because then at best you would be in fourth place, ahead only of the team you drew with assuming they also lost all three other matches.
C is by far the toughest group. E will be very competitive, but all the teams have significant flaws.
Villa should take some comfort from the fact that Ajax are having a bit of a nightmare start to their season (7 points from 5 games, 6 points behind surprise leaders Groningen)