Unai Emery will only consider Aston Villa as Premier League title contenders if they are still in the mix with three games to go. Last week we lost and last week, no-one asked me about contenders for the title. We lost against Everton, ‘No, not now’; and we are winning today, ‘Yes now’. “We are so, so happy, so proud of the work we did because after we lost against Everton, we needed to react like we did on Thursday. ASTON VILLA: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres (Mings 75), Maatsen, Onana (Lindelof 89), Tielemans (Bogarde 74), Sancho (Bailey 59), Rogers, Buendia (Digne 75), Watkins.

Source: Irish Examiner January 25, 2026 18:42 UTC