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In a parallel universe somewhere, Unai Emery is still wrestling with his black puffer coat in his dugout at the Amex Stadium, trying to force his hands through the sleeves, fresh from hurling it to the ground in wild celebration. The adrenaline of Aston Villa’s 4-3 comeback win at Brighton on Wednesday has probably only just faded. He made cinematic viewing and triggered memories of Mario Balotelli struggling to put on a warm-up bib and Tim Sherwood, while Villa manager a decade ago, launching his club-branded jacket towards the turf after Christian Benteke equalised against QPR.
By the end, Emery was hoarse and Villa had chalked up an eighth victory in nine Premier League matches, 12 out of 14 in all competitions. Across the past 10 league matches, Villa have accrued a division-high 25 points and in that time only Manchester City have scored more goals and Arsenal conceded fewer. This is the same team that failed to win any of their opening six matches and took three points from their first five league games. At that point Emery was concerned and shared his feelings with his squad, insisting his players raise their performance levels at training and in matches. Belief within an experienced squad – at 27.4 years, the average age of players selected in the league this season is the joint-oldest, with Fulham – did not waver.
Now Villa will move within three points of Arsenal if they extend their winning streak to seven matches when they host the leaders on Saturday. Villa qualified for the Champions League 18 months ago and last season missed out on goal difference after an agonising final‑day defeat at Manchester United. But is this Villa squad at its peak? Might their experience be their superpower?
Nine Villa players who featured in Emery’s first match, a 3-1 victory against United in November 2022, are key cogs in this machine. Emiliano Martínez, despite a moment of madness at Old Trafford in May, is the undisputed No 1, Ezri Konsa has evolved into an automatic pick for club and country, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara are midfield monsters, and Lucas Digne, Matty Cash and Emiliano Buendía appear reloaded. Ollie Watkins leads from the front and Tyrone Mings was a regular until he was injured.
The scary thing for Villa’s rivals is that while their top-flight record has been peerless since rallying against Fulham at the end of September, they have not necessarily been entirely convincing. They have not been blowing away teams, bar their 4-0 rout of a Bournemouth side in the midst of a five-game winless streak. October brought four wins in five matches, the highlights surely Cash, Digne and Buendía combining to devastating effect to earn a comeback victory at Tottenham, and a statement win over Manchester City, in which the right-back Cash scored the only goal with a wicked left-foot strike. November brought five wins in six matches. And yet, until scoring twice in midweek, Watkins, Villa’s only bona-fide striker, had scored only once across 19 matches.
The slow-burn emergence of the former Arsenal youngster Donyell Malen has helped, the Netherlands forward signed from Borussia Dortmund in January last year is Villa’s leading goalscorer after stepping out of the shadows. Emery recently explained Watkins had been managing knee pain since the start of last season. If his double against Brighton can spark a goalscoring run, Villa will surely be an even stronger proposition. The England forward, 30 at the end of December has hit double figures in each of his five previous seasons at the club, scoring 19 and 16 goals, respectively, in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.
Villa’s home form has been a foundation for success. They have been formidable at Villa Park since Emery took charge, the Basque losing eight of 58 league games there and only two since the start of last season: Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win in August that heightened those early concerns and Arsenal’s last visit – just over 15 months ago. Since that Palace defeat, Villa have won their eight home matches across all competitions, conceding three goals.
This season Digne, Cash, Kamara, McGinn and Morgan Rogers, an inspired Emery-driven signing last year, have agreed new contracts after an unsettling summer. The £40m sale of Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle to help comply with profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) demoralised several of the squad and led some players to question their futures. Could Villa really kick on again with limited wriggle room?
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Villa were alarmed by their poor start and on deadline day pushed through loan moves for Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho, though the deal for the former included an obligation to buy from Liverpool for £35m on the basis he made 10 appearances. Most presumed that was a given considering Elliott arrived fresh from winning the player of the tournament as England retained the Under-21 European Championship, but he has not featured since 2 October. Sancho, borrowed from United, is yet to start a league match.
Last month McGinn, the likable Villa captain, spoke of the “hangover” from missing out on the Champions League. “It was a big wake-up call to everyone how important these rules are,” he said of PSR. “It was a lot of uncertainty for players that left, players that stayed, and it certainly did affect us. It was tricky, but my job was to keep the players as focused as possible. And I think we’ve recovered now, after a slow start.”
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