If Unai Emery’s Aston Villa can win their 15th consecutive Premier League home game against leaders Arsenal this evening, that will be conclusive proof they are very much in this year’s title race.
Villa Park is the toughest place to play right now, as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City discovered in becoming its 14th vanquished visitors on the trot on Wednesday. It is no secret that City and Arsenal deploy similar styles, and Mikel Arteta’s analysts will have been studying that game in great detail in a bid to avoid making the same mistakes Guardiola’s side did.