laursen replaced gareth barry as club captain for villa on a permanent basis for the 2008–09 season. in aston villa's first game of the 2008–09 season, laursen captained the side in the uefa intertoto cup, and continued his goal-scoring record from set pieces by scoring villa's second goal in the 2–2 draw against danish team odense bk. laursen also managed to get onto the scoresheet in a uefa cup match with fh hafnarfjörður, and against stoke city in the premiership. on 23 october 2008, laursen gave aston villa the lead in the uefa cup game against ajax amsterdam with a header from close-range. villa went on to win the match 2–1. he was named 2008 danish football player of the year in november 2008.