Are Aston Villa Premier League title challengers? Well they certainly think so.
Unai Emery’s side beat Arsenal 1-0 at home, making it 15 on the bounce at Villa Park, moving them to third in the table and two points off of leaders Liverpool.
John McGinn’s seventh minute goal was enough for Villa to cling onto as they battled against Arsenal, and beat the second of last season’s top two.
Beating the first, Manchester City, just three days prior, saw Villa applauded for one of the most dominant tactical displays ever shown against a Pep Guardiola side.
And after that clash, Emery motivated his players by telling the media post-match that a win over Arsenal would put them in the title race.
Now fully in the thick of it, Emery was asked if he stood by that remark, and did little to dampen fans’ excitement.
“We are in. We are in [the title race],” he said. “But I can speak more about it. We can be happy and excited and motivated to get it [the title].”
The same question was put to star goalkeeper Emi Martinez, and the World Cup winner was similarly bold.
“Yeah, yeah, of course [we’re in the title race],” he said.
“When you beat City and Arsenal in a week, one game controlling them like I’ve never seen Man City being controlled, then suffering against Arsenal for 85 minutes and managing to win again…. I’m a believer, mate.”
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Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT post-match, Emery described how different the two victories over City and Arsenal were, and why that brings confidence.
“Yes, two very different matches,” he began “We played with a lot of energy against Manchester City and we played in control of the game with a lot of chances and we deserved to win.
“Today, maybe we deserved to win again because we competed very well. We didn’t control the game and we didn’t get a lot of chances, but we were clinical.
“In some moments we controlled the game very well but in 90 minutes they imposed their style more and we were feeling a little bit tired, but I think today the substitute players made a very big impact and helped us.”
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