Vanquished Villa seek home comfortsAll good things must come to an end but Aston Villa's staff, players and supporters could afford to be phlegmatic about the defeat at Arsenal which ended a club record-equalling 11-match winning run in all competitions. Villa now trail the league leaders by six points after a chastening second half on Tuesday night but, perhaps more pertinently with Champions League qualification in mind, their first defeat in nine league games was mitigated by results elsewhere. All four teams immediately below Villa in the table failed to win at home in midweek, ensuring Unai Emery's side have a nine-point cushion over fifth-placed Chelsea. The Villans ended 2025 with a club record 36 wins in a calendar year in all competitions, with 22 of those coming from their 27 fixtures at Villa Park. No side in Europe's top five leagues has a better home record since the start of last year.

Source: BBC January 03, 2026 10:33 UTC