Aston Villa have defied every expectation so far this season and currently sit just three points from league leaders Manchester City.
It has been a whirlwind year under Unai Emery for Aston Villa, he took over after Steven Gerrard had been sacked with Villa looking far from even a midtable side.
But with Emery at the helm, Aston Villa recovered and finished the season in seventh, securing Europa Conference League football in the process.
After that, it would’ve been easy to assume that improvement would be difficult to attain, but Villa has done just that and found themselves right in the race for Champions League football.
Dan Rolinson and John Townley have now shared their verdict on why Villa are a credible Champions League qualification contender.
Why Emery’s Villa could be Champions League contenders
Speaking on the Claret and Blue podcast, John Townley and Dan Rolinson who are Villa journalists for Birmingham Live, shared their opinions on who Emery can be confident ahead of the rest of the season.
Townley explained: “Third in the league table this calendar year only behind Arsenal in second on a couple of goals as well. It’s been a remarkable year under Emery, I mean firstly what we would say is only time will tell if Villa can compete for the Champions League but the premise of it is that Villa should be taken seriously in the conversation.”
It emerged on the podcast that Villa have averaged two points per game under Emery in the last 34 games. This amounts to 68 points which Townley explained is ‘proof’ of Villa being in a good place.
“Over the course of 34 games nearly a whole campaign there you go there’s your proof.”
Rolinson then quite confidently claimed, “No need to worry about if 5th is a Champions League place, we’re third on form in 2023 so it is reasonable to say that Villa can do this over a consistently long period of time.”
It’s easier said than done to say Villa can get Champions League football, as maintaining this current form over the next 26 games will be a tough challenge.
Villa don’t have a squad with the same quality of depth as those around them and it is also probable that the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United will eventually join the race.
For now, it seems smart to take it game by game and see where we sit come May.
