There have been so many compelling storylines to entertain the world so far this season as we reach the Premier League's halfway point. Liverpool's inexplicable collapse after winning the title and splurging over £400 million in the summer. Sunderland's remarkable return to the top flight after nearly a decade away. Whatever the heck is going on at Manchester United. And then we have Aston Villa.
The Villans' run of five games without a win, and only one goal in that timespan, fooled everyone into thinking they were heading for a transitional year. Yet here they are now, crashing into the title race picture at a rate of knots, winning their last 11 on the spin in all competitions and dropping points only once in the Premier League since they picked up their first win in September.
Credit has been given in large part to manager Unai Emery, hailed as a 'tactical genius' by striker Ollie Watkins for his tinkering during Saturday's comeback victory away at Chelsea. Now, the Spaniard is eyeing a win at the home of his former club, Arsenal, with the chance to go level on points with the league leaders. Given Emery's recent history of getting one over the Gunners and Villa's incredible run of form, it's a result that's certainly realistic.
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Failed Arsenal spell
Just as David Moyes found out that succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United was hardly the glamorous job it was billed to be, Emery was Arsenal's fall guy when they decided to end Arsene Wenger's 22-year stay in north London back in 2018. The Gunners' squad was weaker than those of their big-six rivals, particularly in defence where the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis and Sead Kolasinac were seen as cornerstones, while the club's move to spread power into various roles rather than be at the whim of the manager made for some teething problems.
A top-heavy side that relied heavily on the goals of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette finished fifth in the Premier League in Emery's only full season, spurning a top-four finish down the final stretch. They were also thrashed 4-1 by rivals Chelsea in the Europa League final, a competition which was said to be the new head coach's bread and butter.
The vibes were off. Emery's initially poor grasp of the English language combined with strange squad construction, upheaval upstairs and the general demands of Arsenal as a club meant this was a recipe for disaster. That much of his summer 2019 budget went on £72m Nicolas Pepe, then a club-record signing and unproven save for one year at Lille, only made matters more complicated.
Arsenal started 2019-20 terribly and Emery was eventually put out of his misery on November 29. He was replaced on a permanent basis by Manchester City assistant and ex-Gunners captain Mikel Arteta, who had interviewed for the job when Wenger left but, as fate had it, was given a reprieve when it went to another Spaniard instead.
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Europa League lesson
Emery was back in work in time for the 2020-21 season, returning to Spain with Villarreal, his first job in his home country in four years following unsuccessful stints with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain. The stars aligned when the Yellow Submarine were drawn to face Arteta's new-look Gunners in the semi-finals of that season's Europa League.
After mildly flirting with a relegation battle at Christmas, Arsenal showed glimpses of the potential that would be realised years down the line during the second half of that campaign, putting together some winning streaks and turning back to the possession-based philosophy of old from the Wenger era. That, however, still wasn't enough to topple the Europa League king in Emery, whose Villarreal side prevailed 2-1 on aggregate and led for all but five minutes of the entire tie.
Emery made no reference to exacting revenge on Arsenal post-second leg, though he must have been delighted to have got one over his former team. "I am very proud, we know the match was very important for us and Arsenal are a very good team, but we needed to do the work like we did tonight and in the first leg in Villarreal and I think we deserve it," he said, his English slightly more coherent than it ever was when managing in the country the first time around. "I think we made a very serious match, definitely with big performances and helping each other. I think the first leg in Villarreal was very important for us and today I think we worked very well and defended very well as well. Sometimes with the possession, we control and we took some options in attack to score the goals. But really the best chances to score, they had."
Villarreal went on to beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United in the final on penalties, while Arsenal still haven't won a trophy since August 2020 when they beat Chelsea in the only FA Cup final to be played behind closed doors.
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Villa's rise
By the time Emery returned to England in the autumn of 2022 with Villa, it was long reported he felt he had unfinished business in England. He had turned down an approach from Newcastle 12 months prior before their new Saudi PIF owners hired Eddie Howe, suggesting there wasn't a "clear vision" at St James' Park.
With Villa, it was a different story. "Opportunities arrive, like the one I had here when I arrived. And when I saw this one, I knew I had to take it," Emery said at his final Villarreal press conference as he prepared to depart for the team sat 16th in the Premier League. "It is a new sporting challenge, a different sports project. This club also has a very nice sports project, and I will be able to make decisions alongside people very close to me."
The message was clear. At Villa, Emery would have greater autonomy than he ever had at Arsenal, where he was a cog in an untested system, or at Newcastle, who didn't know quite what they were yet. It paid dividends almost immediately, with the West Midlands side finishing the season an unlikely seventh to qualify for the Conference League.
Emery's first domestic meeting against Arsenal ended in heartbreaking defeat. Arteta had, by now, turned the Gunners not only into Premier League title contenders, but clear frontrunners. Arsenal's 4-2 win at Villa Park in February 2023, featuring two goals in added time, sent them top, where they would remain until matchday 34.
The playing field had levelled a bit more when Villa hosted Arsenal again in December 2023, when Emery's men took down both the Gunners and Manchester City 1-0 in a span of four days, solidifying their position in the top three, not too dissimilar to the current standings.
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Perfect record snapped
The Arsenal of that winter hadn't hit full stride yet. Defeat at Villa Park kickstarted a run of one win in five games, seeing them drop to third in the table. But the Gunners of January to May 2024 were nearly flawless. In 18 Premier League games, they recorded 16 wins. The two they weren't victorious in, however, will haunt them until they win a title again.
On March 31, Arsenal battled to a 0-0 draw away at City. There was much clamour for Arteta to try and prevail in that six-pointer, but sharing one each wasn't the end of the world so long as they made up for it elsewhere. Not killing off Villa a fortnight later made it impossible to finish in first.
A scintillating first-half display somehow didn't yield a goal for Arsenal, who pushed and pushed until they were caught on their heels in the 84th minute, when Leon Bailey broke the deadlock down the other end. Moments later, Watkins iced the game, dinking beyond former Brentford team-mate David Raya to seal three invaluable points in both the title and top-four races.
Villa pipped Tottenham to the final Champions League spot by two points. Arsenal lost the title to City by two points. Fine margins swung in favour of Emery.
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