Former Aston Villa man, Lee Hendrie believes that a top-half finish would be a success this season with the top six being an unrealistic goal.
It has been an excellent start to the season for Aston Villa with them sitting just three points off top in fifth place.
Under the tutelage of Unai Emery the Villans have gone from strength to strength. Now they are true challengers for the top six.
With stars like Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz the Spaniard has improved so many players so far.
Villa made additions of stars like Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby in the summer. B6 could have a realistic chance of hosting Champions League football next season.
What has Lee Hendrie said?
The former Villa midfielder was not too optimistic over the Villans’ chances of even securing a Conference League place again.
Discussing last season’s finish on Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football Podcast, he said: “I’ve said this to a lot of Villa fans, I don’t get carried away. I think last season was really hard to judge. There were lots of teams that didn’t perform, Liverpool, the Spurs, the Chelsea’s.
“There were lots of teams that were off it last season. This season’s going to be different. I’d take a top-half finish.”
Given the start that Emery’s side have made to the season, many Villa fans would be disappointed with just a top-half finish.
Villa currently sit comfortably in fifth place, but are yet to take a win over any of the top four this season. Losing 3-0 to Liverpool earlier in the season is the only attempt so far.
With those fixtures coming up, Hendrie believes their top six place will be lost: “I don’t think we’ll finish in the top six. I really think that’s a big ask. Again, if they finished seventh, or eighth, I think it’d be a really good season.
“I think that Unai will bring the players in and they will sort of progress on that. But I don’t think they’re going to end up finishing in the top six this season by any stretch.”
As a general rule, Villa fans are very optimistic for the rest of the season and are truly looking forward to the big games coming up.
With Tottenham Hotspur coming up next, Emery’s men will show what they are all about.
