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They create chances even when they’re not playing well and, as a result, only Manchester City have scored more goals in the Premier League this season. Then, in Emi Martinez, they have someone who has such big moments in games he will deliver the 15 points over the course of the season that Sir Alex Ferguson once claimed a great goalkeeper is worth. Aston Villa will end a day in the Premier League’s top four positions at least 13 games into a season for the first time since December 27th 2009. The absence of captain Dagny Brynjarsdottir, who is on maternity leave for the 2023-24 season, has deprived them of vital experience in the centre of midfield and leadership on the pitch. Villa are also exploring the possibility of appointing Sevilla's sporting director Monchi, following Mateu Alemany's decision to stay at Barcelona.
Villa are expected to have a busy summer as Unai Emery looks to bring in signings of his own. The club have already been linked with several potential signings, with the latest being Southampton's Armel Bella-Kotchap. Neil: Two key players don’t make a team but their absence through injury [Van de Ven and Maddison] is having a disproportionate effect. The wheels have truly come off Tottenham’s wagon. Pedro Porro has assisted six goals in the Premier League. The only defenders with more assists in the competition than the Spaniard since his debut in February are Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier (both nine). While the likes of Spurs, Brighton and Newcastle United have growing injury lists, with the long-awaited return of both Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey, Villa now have arguably the best matchday squad in terms of quality of depth they've ever had.
In August, Villa will play in a Europa Conference League play-off aiming to emulate West Ham - who won this season's competition by beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final on Wednesday. They will discover their play-off opponents later in the summer. Villa just a couple of years ago were not in the best of positions and in the Championship. Now to be in this position with Unai Emery leading the charge, they are really cementing themselves a top six or seven side and that is incredible for them. On the possibility of reaching the top four with a win: "I don't think about the table. We have to face the match thinking about how we can be better than the opponent on Sunday. At the end, hopefully we can take a good result." Everton v Manchester United would have been hard to call, but what sort of reaction will you get from Sean Dyche’s men and the furious fans at Goodison after that 10-point deduction. There will be no need to lift the players, they will have had raw meat for breakfast. If United arrive unready for the battle, they might as well turn the coach round before they get off the M62 motorway. This week it has been reported that Villa will make an approach for Youri Tielemans soon. He is available on a free transfer while Pau Torres is another player being heavily linked.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez should be fit for Sunday and Emery added: "Leon Bailey and Nicolo Zaniolo worked this morning alone, to test if they will be ready [for the weekend] and more or less, it was positive."
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The Hammers suffered a 5-0 defeat to Manchester United in their last WSL outing but came out fired up against Villa. He can rub people the wrong way but his performances speak for themselves," Begovic said. "He’s been really solid and taken his game to a new level. He really kept his team in the game and made some big saves [against Tottenham] at crucial times, which is what top goalkeepers do. De Zerbi faces a summer during which Mac Allister and a number of the club's other highly rated players - such as Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and teenagers Enciso, Facundo Buonanotte and Evan Ferguson - will have admirers. Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before his side travel to face Tottenham on Sunday.
What made this more special for Villa's supporters was the knowledge this was something they could not have contemplated a few months ago. At the end we won against a very good team with their positioning and movement. Even when being organised it was very difficult to stop them. But Pau Torres levelled with a header deep into first-half added time before Ollie Watkins slotted in his 12th goal of the season to seal Villa's turnaround. Despite a nervous second half against Brighton, they held on to the victory they needed to spark celebrations in the stands.
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BirminghamLive understands Monchi is one of the names under consideration to work with Unai Emery and the club's recruitment team. Barcelona director Mateu Alemany had an agreement in principle to join Villa last month, but returned to Catalonia after his proposed move broke down. This week, he takes on Barry Can't Swim, aka DJ and producer Joshua Mannie - who is an Everton fan. Former Premier League goalkeeper Asmir Begovic says Emiliano Martinez has played a key role in Aston Villa's success this season.
Tottenham were top of the Premier League table after their first 10 games but are now below Villa after victory in north London sent Unai Emery's them above them into fourth place. Spurs pushed for an equaliser but could not avoid a third straight defeat - and they have taken the lead in each one of those games.For Brighton, this has been the best league season in their 122-year history. With sixth place already assured, the Seagulls have qualified for the Europa League - their first European campaign. There is no doubt Emery has done a superb job marshalling Villa’s resources and they are now serious contenders to finish in the top four in my opinion. As for January, Villa are a very ambitious club and I’m sure Emery and Monchi, the club’s president of football operations, are already working on some ideas. Julian: Bailey deserves to start. As the best sub in the league it would be great to see his work from the word go. There were some encouraging signs that the former Tottenham manager's approach is starting to pay off here, despite a third consecutive WSL defeat. Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.
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