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Aston Villa Challenge Premier League Elite

After 16 games of the English Premier League season, there is a surprise name sitting third in the league and just two points off the summit.

Aston Villa have been in scintillating form and in their last two games have beaten last season’s champions and runners-up.

Leon Bailey’s deflected effort was enough to send Manchester City packing at Villa Park last Wednesday as Pep Guardiola’s men only managed two shots on target in the entire match, both from their star striker Erling Haaland who was kept largely quiet.

It was then Arsenal’s turn to visit Villa Park where the home side made it an incredible 15 home league victories in a row thanks to John McGinn’s early goal.

Consecutive 1-0 wins against elite opposition have Villa fans dreaming.

The man responsible for this considerable change in fortunes is Unai Emery who took over from the beleaguered Steven Gerrard last October. Villa quickly experienced an upturn in fortunes, moving away from the relegation zone and ultimately qualifying for the Europa Conference League.

Emery has turned Villa into one of the most watchable sides in the Premier League, and a team who have also beaten the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea, Brighton and West Ham to accumulate their highest number of points at this stage of the season since they won the title in the 1980/81 season.

Aston Villa have the third-best record in the Premier League this calendar year, winning 23 of their 37 games. Only Manchester City have won more. For context, Villa won only 11 games in the whole of 2022.

When Villa paid Emery’s release clause to Villarreal last October, even their owners could scarcely have believed he would take the club to these heights.

Emery has won four Europa League titles and managed Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in a distinguished managerial career. However, during his time at the Emirates he was unable to implement a consistent style of play and was sacked in November 2019, just a season and four months into the job.

With top scorer Ollie Watkins emerging as one of the best strikers in the Premier League, Douglas Luiz controlling the midfield and Emiliano Martinez outstanding in goal, Villa have an excellent core, each of whom were at the club before Emery arrived but appear to have been galvanised by the Spaniard.

Emery had a point to prove in English football and 16 games into the 2023/24 season, his team are performing beyond their fans’ wildest expectations. The question is, can Emery and Villa maintain their excellent form into 2024?

/Stewart
Sports news editor