Unai Emery has stated that he will only view Aston Villa as legitimate Premier League title contenders if they remain in championship contention with three games to play.
After a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Newcastle on Sunday—a win that marked their first at St James’ Park since April 2005—Villa secured third place, sitting level on points with Manchester City and four points behind leaders Arsenal. However, Emery, who previously downplayed title aspirations following last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Everton, remains cautious.
He remarked, “Next week we are up against Brentford at home. Just last week, following our loss, no one was talking about title contenders. We lost to Everton, ‘Not now;’ and now that we’ve won, suddenly it’s ‘Yes now.’
“I urge everyone to stay calm. Maintaining balance is my primary goal, and the only strategy I know is to work diligently every day. If we perform consistently, perhaps we can have a different conversation by [matchday] 35.”
“Certainly, we are up against formidable teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tottenham… They possess considerable strength.
“However, we are competing, and we are gathering points.”
After winning six and drawing three of their 12 away league matches, Villa surged ahead in style when Newcastle gave Emi Buendia time to unleash a remarkable dipping shot that left goalkeeper Nick Pope helpless.
Despite some strong chances, including a key save from Emi Martinez to deny Sandro Tonali in the first minute, Newcastle couldn’t find the equalizer, as Martinez also brilliantly palmed a Lewis Miley header out before half-time. As they pressed for a reply in the second half, Ollie Watkins scored again late in the match to seal the victory.
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Emery will now shift focus to the upcoming Europa League match against RB Salzburg, having announced that midfielder John McGinn might be sidelined for up to two months due to a knee injury. He expressed, “It’s been a long stretch without victories, and my experience with Aston Villa last year was quite challenging.
“We are incredibly happy and proud of the work we’ve accomplished since losing to Everton. It was essential for us to respond like we did on Thursday and again today.”
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Newcastle’s Eddie Howe reflected on their performance, stating, “I have mixed feelings about our display. There were many good moments and individual performances, but we ultimately lost 2-0 at home.”
Howe now awaits news on the fitness of Bruno Guimarães, who has been out with an ankle injury, and Joelinton, who left the field due to a groin issue, ahead of their crucial Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
He added, “Having both Joelinton and Bruno missing will be a significant setback for us.”