Aston Villa star, Leon Bailey has discussed his side’s attitude towards a potential Premier League title race this season.
It has been a great 2023 for Aston Villa which sees them sit in joint top of the Premier League, at the time of writing.
Under the management of Unai Emery, the Villans have secured the second most points in this calendar year. According to Transfermarkt, Villa have accrued 85 points which is second only to Manchester City who have 93.
With this and their form in the league this season, there has been plenty of talk of a title race for Aston Villa. This has even seen Pep Guardiola discuss their credentials.
It must be said that Emery isn’t counting his chickens just yet and refuses to even acknowledge Champions League potential. This attitude is clearly rubbing off on his players as shown by Leon Bailey after the Burnley win.
What has Leon Bailey said?
Bailey has been a huge part of Villa’s success this season as he finally appears to have found his feet at Villa Park.
With six goals and five assists this season, according to FotMob, he ranks second in the squad for goal involvements. He is only second to Ollie Watkins who has been on fire so far this season, adding two assists against Burnley.
Thanks to goals from Bailey, Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz, Villa were able to secure three points against the Clarets. This saw the Villans move up to second place in the Premier League. This has seen more conversation of a title race.
Discussing the point with Match of the Day, Bailey has suggested that it isn’t even on the Villa players’ minds.
On that, he said: “It is going to get noisy but at the end of the day we have to be humble and take it one step at a time because every game in the Premier League is difficult. It’s just halfway through the season.”
It is safe to say that Villa are well in the race but do face stern competition for a high finish this campaign. As a result of this, expectations are being tempered. From the Jamaican’s comments, you can tell the squad aren’t giving a title any thought right now.
Although Villa fans are starting to dream, the players are being kept grounded by more excellent coaching by Emery. It is an exciting time to be a Villan, that is for sure.
