Former Aston Villa manager, Dean Smith has opened up about the title chances of his old side following the 1-0 win over Arsenal.
It has been a historic week for Aston Villa following their 1-0 wins over Manchester City and Arsenal at Villa Park.
The rise of the Villans under Unai Emery has been clear for all to see and it now sees them sitting in third place in the Premier League.
Last campaign was an undoubted success as the Spaniard helped secure Europa Conference League football. This season has seen Villa battle at the top end of the Premier League with a Champions League finish, a realistic aim moving forward.
With that being said, with wins over City and Arsenal, conversations revolving around a title race have heated up in the media. Now a former Villa boss has opened up on their season so far and title chances…
What has Dean Smith said?
This weekend, Dean Smith watched Aston Villa v Arsenal with the New York Villans, the Villa fan group in the Big Apple.
Following the full-time whistle Sam Al-Ani of the Villa Park Podcast asked the former Villa boss for his thoughts on the current team.
Smith was more than obliging and was clearly happy to talk about his boyhood club. Speaking out after the City and Arsenal wins, he said: “I think the team’s fantastic at the moment. You only have to see Wednesday night’s game against Man City, today’s [Arsenal] was a harder-fought game.
“I’ve not seen too many teams do what Villa did to Man City in the week. At the moment, I know everyone will play it down and I’ll continue to do so, one game at a time but they look the real deal.”
Conceding just two shots on goal to Pep Guardiola’s side and having the better chances on the night, Villa were superb. They followed this up with a hard-earned three points over Arsenal which has sparked talk of a title charge.
Smith wasn’t for discussing these chances. On that, he laughed: “Im not even going there.
“Listen I don’t want to mock them. Let’s hope they continue what they’re doing and let’s see where they end up.”
He is a Villa fan first and foremost and shares the same viewpoint as the majority of Villa fans who aren’t quite sure just yet. Despite sitting in third, these are unprecedented circumstances for the Villans which gives an air of uncertainty amongst fans at times.
Given that we are nearly at the halfway point of the season and Villa are comfortably in the top four, who knows where they could end up?
