Emery speaks candidly about Arsenal ahead of Villa clash deciding the Premier League title race.
On 30 Dec 2025 GMT+7, Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa, spoke ahead of the 19th match of the 2025-26 English Premier League season—a high-stakes encounter as Villa visit Arsenal in the title-deciding fixture.
Ahead of the match, Aston Villa are in scorching form with 11 consecutive wins, including 8 straight Premier League victories. They sit third with 39 points, just behind league leaders Arsenal who have 42 points. A win tonight at Emirates Stadium at 03:15 GMT+7 would see Villa equal Arsenal's points.
This elevates Aston Villa to genuine Premier League title contenders alongside Arsenal and Manchester City. However, Emery quickly shifted the pressure onto his former club Arsenal, saying, "Arsenal are competing at the highest level of football."
"They are league title favorites in terms of team building and development. They signed two players for every position last summer and brought in several key players."
"They have players returning from injury, such as Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. You can see they are much stronger now."
"This is the biggest test we will face. We must be proud of how close we are to Manchester City and Arsenal, and remain humble, confident, and ambitious going forward."