Unai Emery clarifies his ‘sole aim’ amid Aston Villa’s title aspirations.
Unai Emery will only regard Aston Villa as contenders for the Premier League title if they remain in contention with three matches remaining.
Villa solidified their position in third place, tied on points with Manchester City and four points behind leaders Arsenal, following a hard-earned 2-0 victory at Newcastle on Sunday — their first win at St James’ Park since April 2005. However, Emery, who previously stated they were not in the top-five race after last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to Everton, was cautious about getting carried away.
He remarked: “Next week we are facing Brentford at home. Last week we suffered a loss, and no one inquired about title contenders then. After losing to Everton, it was ‘No, not now;’ and now that we have won, it’s ‘Yes now.’
“Alright, let’s remain calm. Maintaining balance is my primary goal, and the only approach I know is to work every day. If we perform consistently, perhaps we can improve, and maybe by [matchday] 35, we can discuss things differently.
“Certainly, we are competing against Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tottenham… Wow, the strength they possess.
“But we are in the competition, and we are accumulating points.”
Villa, who have secured six victories and three draws in their 12 away league matches, took the lead in impressive fashion when Newcastle allowed Emi Buendia to find his target with a spectacular dipping shot that left goalkeeper Nick Pope with no chance.
The Magpies, who had previously seen Emi Martinez deny Sandro Tonali within the first minute, would have equalized if the keeper had not managed to claw Lewis Miley’s header out of the top corner just before halftime. Although they increased the pressure after the interval, they were caught again late in the match by Ollie Watkins.
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Emery, who will now focus on Thursday night’s Europa League match against RB Salzburg after disclosing that midfielder John McGinn could be sidelined for up to two months due to a knee injury, stated: “For a long time, we were not winning, and my experience with Aston Villa here last year was dreadful.
“We are extremely happy and proud of the work we accomplished because after our loss to Everton, we needed to respond as we did on Thursday. Firstly — it was crucial on Thursday against Fenerbahce — and today.”
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Opposing manager Eddie Howe, whose team has yet to secure a league victory in the absence of captain Bruno Guimarães since his arrival in January 2022, commented: “I have mixed feelings about our performance because I thought it was acceptable.
“There were many positive aspects, some strong individual displays, but ultimately we lost the match 2-0 at home.”
Howe now faces a tense wait to determine whether Guimarães, who missed the match due to an ankle injury, and Joelinton, who exited with a groin issue, will be fit for Wednesday night’s vital Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain.
He noted: “With both [Joelinton] and Bruno absent, that’s a significant setback for us.”
