Bologna coach outlines three Aston villa strengths ahead of champions league clash
Bologna coach outlines three Aston villa strengths ahead of champions league clash
Ally McCoist says Aston Villa should now be regarded as Premier League title contenders after Unai Emery’s side continued their superb start to the season on Saturday.
The Villans came from behind to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage, with goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, and an own goal by Issa Diop securing the victory for the visitors.
The result put Aston Villa level on points with third-placed Arsenal, who suffered a shocking 2-0 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday, despite being responsible for Villa’s only defeat this season.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist declared Villa as surprise title contenders, praising the depth of Emery’s squad, with the likes of Jhon Duran, John McGinn, and Ross Barkley coming off the bench during the 3-1 win:
“Villa fans must be pinching themselves and getting up in the morning, just where they are, what they’re achieving, where the club are, brilliant.
“And as a team, obviously, I thought, Watkins, great header again at the weekend. But they just look really comfortable.
“I’m looking at the side, they’ve still got the kind of dilemma about John Duran, I know he came on again at the weekend, McGinn on the bench, Barkley on the bench.
“They look like they sort of got a little bit of strength now, which they need with the European games coming up.
“Can they be called title containers at this moment in time? They’ve got to be, as simple as that, but still, as we know, a long, long way to go, but the level of performance and where they’re in the league, yes.”
Despite early predictions that Villa would struggle with the demands of European football, Emery’s men are proving the sceptics wrong as they have lost only once in their first 11 matches across all competitions this term.
The West Midlanders also boast a perfect record in Europe, including a superb 1-0 win over Bayern Munich, and will now face Bologna in their mid-week clash at Villa Park.
The victory over Fulham at the weekend saw Aston Villa remain just four points behind league leaders Liverpool. The two sides are set to face each other on 9 November at Anfield.
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