Beat the champions: done. Beat the league leaders: pending. Aston Villa’s calendar is dense and tough. Still, Unai Emery and his players are riding the wave of good results as they made it 14 consecutive home victories in the Premier League against the Triple holders. Extending that run to 15 would put the Birmingham club right in the title race!Leon Bailey’s match-winning goal against Manchester City may have been a bit lucky due to the deflection, which tricked Ederson, but Aston Villa’s results overall have nothing to do with luck.The former Bayer Leverkusen man hasn’t been on top form in his first campaign, but everything seems to be falling into place this year at Villa Park.”It’s very special. To get the win, to score the goal, it’s a magnificent feeling. I can’t put it into words how I feel. We showed great character and worked extremely hard to get these three points. I struggled during my first season, but I knew what I was capable of. People believed in me. I’m here to help as much as possible, and I’m so grateful to be able to do that.”Leon Bailey vs Man City pic.twitter.com/Au6eSEaIJ2— EB10 (@buendiazboyz) December 7, 2023 When it comes to confidence, Villa boss Emery has been given a lot of it by the club – and he’s spreading it to everyone in the squad. For Bailey, the Spaniard is the ultimate coach.”Unai Emery has been amazing. His way of doing things is different. He knows exactly what he wants. Day in and day out he knows what he’s doing to help up get the three points.”The Villans’ win over the champions lifts them into third place in the Premier League standings – just above Pep Guardiola’s team and just four points behind leaders Arsenal. Everyone wants to call Villa one of the title challengers, but Bailey is cautious.”It was a great game. A great night for the fans. A great night for Aston Villa. I’ve always said to myself, we shouldn’t be looking at titles, instead take things one step at a time. We should remain humble and put in the work every day. Then we focus on the challenge ahead. Come the end of the season we’ll see what happens at the end.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7722671##The Jamaican winger’s boss is also not the one to mention the word “title”. But you better believe he’s thinking about it!”We have to keep balance. It is a good victory. We have to believe now, more or less we are in the top four, but even now, we are not contenders and comparing with other teams. But if we are now here and we can take this process like we are doing and being there, of course we have to believe. We have to be excited but as well be balanced.”There won’t be much time to enjoy the famous win over the Cityzens because Villa must prepare for Emery’s old club and the high-stakes encounter this weekend.”We have to play against Arsenal on Saturday, maybe we can rest for two days and try to enjoy the moment. Now, we have to be focused. I want to do this a step ahead being as a team with the winning mentality and trying to keep balance, but we are now preparing for the match on Saturday. I want to focus on that game and to try to get the same performance with our supporters here. We want to impose our style in that game, too.” Steven Gerrard had 9 players from the team that started vs man city, only 2 were emery signings!One made this team battle relegation, the other beat man city and are 3rd in the premier league ✅ pic.twitter.com/R8BVZEgEZm— FPL GOAT (@FPLGOAT7) December 7, 2023 Guardiola, by contrast, has to deal with his team suddenly looking bereft of confidence and form. The Catalan will have a lot of thinking to do. It’s no secret the Cityzens tend to play better in the second halves of the season – but that doesn’t happen on its own.”It’s my duty, my job to find a way to come back the situation because over many years together, we were able to find a way to play games – sometimes playing good, sometimes not but always we found a way to do it – and now we are struggling. We have to change the dynamic, winning as soon as possible against Luton and Crystal Palace to continue to be there. The way we played in the past we won, but today we are not able. When we are not top, we are not consistent enough to win the games. I have to think about it. I have to sleep, to see the games, to reflect, and try to do it.”ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 15TuesdayWolverhampton – Burnley 1-0 (1-0)/Hwang 42/Luton – Arsenal 3-4 (1-2)/Osho 25, Adebayo 50, Barkley 57 – Martinelli 20, Jesus 45, Havertz 60, Rice 90+7/WednesdayBrighton – Brentford 2-1 (1-1)/Mbeumo 27 pen, Hinshelwood 53 – Gross 31/Fulham – Nott.Forest 5-0 (2-0)/Iwobi 30, 74, Jimenez 34, 55, Cairney 86/Sheffield Utd – Liverpool 0-2 (0-1)/van Dijk 37, Szoboszlai 90+4/Crystal Palace – Bournemouth 0-2 (0-1)/Senesi 25, Moore 90+1/Aston Villa – Man.City 1-0 (0-0)/Bailey 74/Man.Utd. – Chelsea 2-1 (1-1)/McTominay 19, 70 – Palmer 45/Thursday22:30: (3.15) Everton (3.45) Newcastle (2.40)23:15: (1.80) Tottenham (3.90) West Ham (4.70)***odds are subject to change**
