Kings or kingmakers? Villa entering decisive run

Unai Emery’s side have now won nine straight titles in all competitions, almost matching the club record of 11 set in 1897.

Villa has now won five of their first five Premier League games and has now gone on a run of its own, surpassing any other team in the league in terms of goals.

They travel to Chelsea on Sunday and play leaders Arsenal in their final three games, which could determine their position in the title race, where they can be kingmakers or kings, before hosting Manchester United on Sunday.

Emery will not veer away from any requests to declare Villa a title rival.

The statistics, however, are telling, as Villa have won six straight titles in the top flight since their only Premier League defeat since August, when they lost to Liverpool in October.

The strength of his side and the momentum they now have were exemplified by last Sunday’s 3-2 comeback victory over West Ham.

After that victory, Emery said, “We are not feeling under pressure, we are ambitious, and we try to challenge ourselves in Europe and the Premier League.”

Enjoy each game, and try to rest after each one. The players must feel at ease doing it.

We are going through this process. It’s [the match with] Manchester United right now.

“I like how the players are responding and how they approach the challenges we are sending. We are now finished and ready to go.

Emery has taken care to keep his Villa players afloat by blocking any further attention. They are, after all, attracting enough attention with their stunning appearance.

That form contrasts sharply with the start of the season, when they were winless following six first-round losses to Brentford and did not even score in the league until Sunderland’s 1-1 draw on September 21.

They have won 15 of their 17 games, including this month’s dramatic 2-1 win over Arsenal and beating Manchester City 1-0 in the draw at the Stadium of Light.

Under Emery, there has also been evolution rather than revolution, with seven Villa players still playing for the head coach in their first game, a 3-1 victory over United in November 2022, who were 14th.

Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash, Emi Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Emi Buendia, and John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara all started, while John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara stepped up. Lucas Digne and Tyrone Mings also participated.

Emery believes Villa could now achieve even more with the core group that helped them win the Champions League.

The most memorable year for us is the past year, he said. Sometimes we were successful in meeting our goals, but he said that we might even be able to achieve them if our demands were raised.

I’m really excited about this third year I’m here, but it’s also more demanding than it was when I first came here.

While Cash, Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, and Emi Buendia were not yet born, David Beckham was preparing to make his England debut.

Since then, Villa has lost two FA Cup championship matches and two League Cup championships.

Emery, who won the Europa League with Sevilla and Villarreal in previous capacities, stated that his main objective on his first day in charge was to bring home a trophy. The FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace, who would have triumphed in the end, still stings.

They are getting closer, as evidenced by Olympiacos’ semi-final defeat in the Europa Conference League and their heartfelt exit from Paris St-Germain in April.

Captain John McGinn told reporters that the Conference League semi-final and Champions League quarter-final were significant events for us and significant milestones for us.

Every time we enter a major game, we have the drive to demonstrate that the team we’ve built over the past five or six years is more valuable than a quarter-final or a semi-final.