Aston Villa toppled the champions at Villa Park on Wednesday night as Leon Bailey’s deflected strike secured a 1-0 victory and Gabby Agbonlahor has predicted what Villa supporters will do following this result.
Villa’s impressive campaign goes from strength to strength, and the players are in no doubt that they have Unai Emery to thank for their remarkable rise.
After playing arguably the best team in Europe off the park and restricting them to just two shots in the match, it is an exciting time to be an Aston Villa fan.
Under the management of Unai Emery, the Villans have made one of the most remarkable transformations in Premier League history.
In the space of a year, the Spaniard has taken them from the threat of relegation when he arrived to now firmly in the fight for the Champions League.
With only four points separating them from table-toppers Arsenal, many think Villa can go one better and fight for the title, though Emery insists it would be too soon.
He said: “We are not contenders.
“There are seven teams who are contenders more than us. Now we are on game 15. We are going to play game 16 on Saturday against Arsenal, and we are going to focus on it. We are happy to be third, but to keep it is going to be very, very difficult.”
Despite their strong position, Emery refuses to get ahead of himself, while Gabby Agbonlahor believes the Villa supporters will echo this sentiment.
Gabby Agbonlahor predicts Champions League football for Aston Villa next season
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Aston Villa striker said: “Aston Villa supporters won’t get carried away, they’ll stay humble,
“When you have that sort of home form, get a few wins away from home, improve your away form, why can’t they get top four?”
Agbonlahor thinks that qualifying for the Champions League is a realistic aim for Aston Villa this season and given they’re in scintillating form at the moment, especially at Villa Park, who would back against them achieving that.
Aston Villa’s home record
In that win over Man City, Villa recorded their 14th consecutive home victory and it is clear that Emery’s players are feeding off their infectious crowd to turn Villa Park into a fortress.
With the likes of Moussa Diaby, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey terrorising defences, the Midlands outfit have become so difficult to beat on their own patch and continuing such form will be pivotal in their chances of finishing in the top four.
In the Premier League this term, Liverpool are the other team to have their 100% home record intact, while only Newcastle have conceded fewer goals than the Villans’ total of 5.
Indeed, Emery has transformed his side into an unstoppable force at Villa Park and if they can improve on their away form having collected just 11 points from a possible 24 available, a title challenge could be a realistic aim.
