Damien
December 29, 2025
I want to start by talking about the title fight and I’m not going to write about that again because I think it’s pretty ridiculous that we’re even talking about that right now. But I understand why.
This is the oldest form of clickbait in existence. The media want to enthuse the supporters. They have to create content. So before we even reach the halfway point of the season, the media starts talking about it and it only serves to create disappointment.
And that’s why the fans are starting to talk about it, but like the coach said, if we’re 34 games into the season and we’re that close, then we should probably start talking about it and like many things, he’s not wrong. There’s a long way to go and talking about it now just makes us sound a little too excited.
Let’s take one game at a time and enjoy the journey. And this journey continues tomorrow against Arsenal in London.
And every game in this League is difficult and they’re not much harder than Arsenal and Manchester City, but we’ve beaten them both already this season so we know we’ve got it in us. And the way we approached Chelsea the other day demonstrated a different approach from the manager to get the three points.
I have no doubt that we can win too, but as I wrote, it’s going to be very hard. We kind of feel like we took a bit of a chance this month, but could you imagine if we had. Could we find what we need one last time this year?
Because that’s what it comes down to. It all depends on the match that awaits us. What worked well against Chelsea, how did we find it against Brighton and Manchester United. We need to put everything back together or maybe the manager has a different approach for Arsenal tomorrow, it would be an impressive end to the season.
And just because the manager says it doesn’t mean it’s gospel. If we’re in the same place or close enough to my match 30, I’ll talk about it as much as possible, but it’s stupid to talk about a title challenge when you’re not even in the year the title is won.
Match the BBC Facts
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Arsenal have lost three of their last five Premier League matches against Aston Villa (W1 D1) and could see Villa complete a league double against them for the third time in six seasons (also 2020-21 and 2023-24), something they had done only once before in the competition before that, in 1992-93.
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Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last two away league matches against Arsenal, beating them 2-0 in April 2024 and drawing 2-2 in January last season. Their last unbeaten run against the Emirates was between 2006-07 and 2008-09 (3).
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This is the third time Arsenal have played an opponent twice in the same month in the Premier League, having beaten Wolves twice in February 2022 and Bolton twice in January 2010.
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This is the fourth time Aston Villa have faced an opponent twice in the same month in the Premier League, following May 2022 (1 win, 1 draw against Burnley), May 2021 (1 win, 1 draw against Everton) and March 1996 (1 win, 1 loss against Sheffield Wednesday).
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Arsenal have won their last league match in four of the last five calendar years, apart from a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on New Year’s Eve 2023.
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Aston Villa have won their last league match in just two of the last 13 calendar years (D6 L5), beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in 2017 and Burnley 3-2 in 2023.
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This will be Unai Emery’s third Premier League away game at the Emirates since leaving Arsenal, winning one and drawing with Aston Villa. No former Gunners boss has ever gone three consecutive away league matches without losing after leaving the club.
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Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze has scored in his team’s final Premier League game of the calendar year in each of the last three years, all for Crystal Palace (2022 v Bournemouth, 2023 v Brentford, 2024 v Southampton). The only players to achieve this four years in a row are Dimitar Berbatov (5 from 2007 to 2011) and Harry Kane (2016 to 2019).
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Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze has been involved in five goals in four Premier League home starts against Aston Villa (2 goals, 3 assists), all for former club Crystal Palace between May 2021 and February 2025, recording at least one assist in three of those four starts.
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Ollie Watkins has scored four goals in five Premier League away matches against Arsenal, the most an Aston Villa player has scored for the Gunners.
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