Aston Villa: Can Unai Emery maintain Aston Villa’s performance in the Premier League?

“We are not a contender to be in the top five,” Emery said last month.

“There are other teams that have more potential than us.”

Silence followed when he was asked why other teams had more Champions League potential than Villa.

However, Villa continued to exceed expectations after making their worst start to a Premier League season in 28 years, picking up just two points and no goals after four matches.

Emery is their biggest asset, having raised the levels and standards at the club since replacing Steven Gerrard in November 2023.

Having led them to the Champions League for the first time since the 1982-83 season, when the European Cup was on – and then to the quarter-finals last season – the workaholic Emery has transformed Villa.

Among the coaches who managed more than 100 matches in the English Premier League, he ranks tenth, having earned 1.8 points per match during the 179 matches he played with Arsenal and Villa.

Of the nine above him, only Mikel Arteta, who succeeded Emery at Arsenal, is not a title winner, and Pep Guardiola leads him with 2.28 points per game.

Emery improved the players, signing Morgan Rogers for £16m from Middlesbrough – when he wasn’t even a guaranteed starter for Boro – and turning him into an England regular within two years.

He leads the players, plans meticulously, and although Villa’s performances have not been exceptional this season, they have found ways to win consistently.

According to Opta, Aston Villa should finish in 12th place – where they are expected to have an overall score of 33.8 – which shows how Emery has made them outperform.

He now does so without Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and captain John McGinn after losing all three to injury last month while struggling with financial constraints as Villa look to comply with Premier League and UEFA rules.

Emery is also trying to end Villa’s 30-year drought, with the possibility of winning the Europa League.

“We set our standards high, and sometimes we can get frustrated because we don’t achieve certain results during the process,” Emery said.

“But overall, our consistency is still there, our demand is still there.

“If we finish third, it’s because we’re being consistent and demanding.

“Of course, maybe we can change something, but tactically and in our idea of ​​how to build the team, everything we built before makes sense.

“It is not easy now to change everything. No, it is completely wrong for us to feel that way.”