⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Not your key not your BTC]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

Aston Villa have been a team that cannot be underestimated in recent seasons, and this season they have continued to do so. They are really a team that can provide difficulties for teams that already have big names and they can also provide fierce competition in the positions that are contested.

And what is more remarkable in my opinion is that they can also be consistent in the last few seasons. Because there are also teams that can provide competition and only last one or two seasons. Like Newcaste for example, I'm not saying they are bad, but so far their consistency is still very lacking, even though they were widely talked about to be a new competing team a few seasons ago.

Since Unai Emery took over as manager, Aston Villa has become a tactically and mentally mature team, capable of challenging even the best teams. They even defeated Arsenal, who were in top form. While Aston Villa's performance has been extraordinary, unlike Newcastle, whose form has fluctuated, Aston Villa has consistently performed in both the Premier League and Europa League. Aston Villa currently sits in third place in the table, just one point behind Manchester City and three points behind Arsenal. In terms of numbers, Aston Villa has a chance to win the title, although it seems a bit difficult due to Man City's recent strong form, at least Aston Villa can secure a top-four finish to qualify for next season's Champions League.

[letteredhub]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

undoubtedly Aston villa has become one of the best performing teams in this era under Unai Emery the villa boss, Unai Emery's style of coaching has transformed the villa side from being a mediocre team to one of Europe's finest outfit competing favourably among the best teams in the champions league have been consistently qualifying for the competition thereby making teams like manchester united to be left out action for quite sometime now, i think Aston villa's emergence in the top five is what has made some teams like Manchester united to be struggling to make it to the UCL.

[Iroh]

There's no single team in the Premier League that's scared to play against Manchester united anymore because they have become the amateur team in this league. Nothing is working right for this team at the moment and you can observe it from their playing. There's no possession any more, too much of blind passes and weak defenders that find it difficult to encounter the opponents. Even if they win their match, the performance is not convincing but pure luck on their side. Their next match is against Newcastle that play aggressively and with Yoro, Dorgu and Heaven at United back, I don't think they can get a point in that match too.

Manchester united still needs some work to be done before they can finally emerge as a top tier club once again. Perhaps, no team in the premier league would be that scared to play against Man united at this point due to their inconsistencies in their performance. You can't really say nothing is working right for them this season. In the game played against Aston villa, they had a more better stats than their opponents. They managed to have longer time with the ball as well as more attempts at scoring goals coupled with more and accurate passes. If they had just pure luck in their side, the game with Aston Villa would have resulted in a big win for Man united.
They do need to work on their defense more.

[pawel7777]

Astin Villa did it again. A 2-1 win over Manchester United establishes them in 3rd place and now they have a massive 7 points advantage over 4th Chelsea.
If they are to finish the season in the top 3, that would be a huge success. But we're not even half way there yet.

The game itself was not very dominant for Villa. Quite the opposite, it was Man United who had higher ball possession and who made more shots on goal, but I think the win is fully deserved, as Villa created more actual scoring chances and could convert them into goals. Even the only goal for United was scored after a big mistake by Villa's Matty Cash, who handed the ball to Cunha on a silver platter.

The next two games will not be easy for Villa. They are playing against Chelsea on Saturday 27th followed by a clash with Arsenal only 3 days later. Both will be away games, so it would be a miracle if they managed to win both.

[Tmoonz]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

Definitely he deserves an accolade like this performance was actually out of the picture at first everyone one focus was on teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City there was even a time Manchester United pulled some sort of storms but it didn't took much time, so seeing Aston Villa at this level is very much impressive no one could have thought of that, Unai Emery is really doing a very nice job there, and with this little gap in point I still believe the league is still very much open not just for Arsenal or Liverpool but to those behind them because the gap is not that much, kudos to Unai Emery and his boys.

[VashaUdacha777]

The last match of Round 17, Fulham vs Nottingham Forest, will be played today. Both teams have lost some players who went to the Africa Cup of Nations. I think there’s no clear favorite in this game — the squads are pretty equal in quality. Most likely, the team that scores first will end up winning the match.

[Derekfunds]

The last match of Round 17, Fulham vs Nottingham Forest, will be played today. Both teams have lost some players who went to the Africa Cup of Nations. I think there’s no clear favorite in this game — the squads are pretty equal in quality. Most likely, the team that scores first will end up winning the match.

The last time I checked the game odd yesterday, that of  nothingham forest was so high because Fulham was favorite because it is going to be their home and secondly there player will be present but later nothingham forest odd was reduced because, I think it was observed that some valuable and key players in Fulham has gone for the AFCON but regardless I still think Fulham is the favorite but the advantage of nothingham forest players is that they have body advantage and I think they might end draw.

[_BlackStar]

-snip-

undoubtedly Aston villa has become one of the best performing teams in this era under Unai Emery the villa boss, Unai Emery's style of coaching has transformed the villa side from being a mediocre team to one of Europe's finest outfit competing favourably among the best teams in the champions league have been consistently qualifying for the competition thereby making teams like manchester united to be left out action for quite sometime now, i think Aston villa's emergence in the top five is what has made some teams like Manchester united to be struggling to make it to the UCL.

Aston Villa is not a mediocre team - I disagree with that statement. Aston Villa was a team that was previously in the middle of the table before Unai Emery arrived - but his arrival has improved things, leading to better team performance. A mediocre team is a team that cannot be relied upon – and is very likely not to be in the top league for several consecutive seasons. In fact, Aston Villa was already in the top league even before Unai Emery arrived, but their performance certainly wasn't like it is now.

After all, Manchester United's decline in the Premier League is not primarily due to teams like Aston Villa, but rather because Manchester United seems to have lost its identity since Ferguson retired. Aston Villa is a team that doesn't really set winning titles as their main target - while Manchester United always wants to strive to return to the pinnacle of glory, and this is a difficult pressure to handle.

[Abbatty]

The last match of Round 17, Fulham vs Nottingham Forest, will be played today. Both teams have lost some players who went to the Africa Cup of Nations. I think there’s no clear favorite in this game — the squads are pretty equal in quality. Most likely, the team that scores first will end up winning the match.

Honestly i don’t think there is a favorite in this one, as a gambler I was even confused on the right option to pick in this game, well I ended up gambling on Draw or both teams to score. I have a strong feeling it going to end in a draw and to be honest I feel it will be a 1-1 draw, well I just hope it comes through for me because currently it the last game on my ticket.

Sean Dyche is really a tough coach to play against, we all know how old fashioned he his, he prefers a low block and then play on the quick counter. For sure I believe he would cause a lot of problems to Fulham today, another big blow for Fulham is losing 3 key player to the AFCON tournament, it going to be a tough one for them.

[Silikiem]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

undoubtedly Aston villa has become one of the best performing teams in this era under Unai Emery the villa boss, Unai Emery's style of coaching has transformed the villa side from being a mediocre team to one of Europe's finest outfit competing favourably among the best teams in the champions league have been consistently qualifying for the competition thereby making teams like manchester united to be left out action for quite sometime now, i think Aston villa's emergence in the top five is what has made some teams like Manchester united to be struggling to make it to the UCL.

Aston Villas rise to the top of the premier league top 3 in the current premier league table is really surprising considering how badly they performed during the first few week of this season premier league matches, they were struggling to win matches and were at the bottom half of the league table, but count down to this period they are in the top 3 teams and even fighting to win the title along side Arsenal and Manchester City. No one really saw this coming, they’ve won about 10 consecutive matches this season, and are in a really red hot form. Kudos to the coach Unai Emery for what he’s doing at the club, if they continue like this they may just end up winning the premier league this season.

[Mate2237]

Fulham will be without some of their key players which is in international duty for their national teams due to the African cup of Nations that is going on in in Morocco. I think that, key players like Alex Iwobi , Calvin Bassy and chkwueze will be greatly missed by Fulham as they are an integral part of the Fulham setup setup. I just pray that Fulham will manage and play well without these important players for the main time.


But going into tonights game which is about taking place in few minutes time, Fulham is at advantage Because they are playing at home and considering the form that they find themselves I expect Fulham to get maximum points from this game. Forest too are not push overs but Fulham is the better team going into this game.

[B-BossMan]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

Good result for Aston villa A team know one expected will be this dominating this season, even if not for any reason but just for there relentless effort in stealing victory away for Manchester united in there game yesterday is a result that deserves praises know matter what. As for them securing a spot in the champions league this season, I strongly believe its possible because the probability of losing form is not certain except they are affected by injuries at the long run

I was so impressed with thier performance, because Aston Villa is never a team to look down on, I also categorize the Aston Villa as one of the biggest teams also, Manchester United never expected this defeat, since they won the wolves woefully with 4 goals and went on draw with AFC Bournemouth also 4-4 goals as draw, I was expecting the Manchester United to improve on thier game or prepare well to beat Aston Villa. Well the game ended as I predicted, so well played to both teams

[Furious 7]

Since Unai Emery took over as manager, Aston Villa has become a tactically and mentally mature team, capable of challenging even the best teams. They even defeated Arsenal, who were in top form. While Aston Villa's performance has been extraordinary, unlike Newcastle, whose form has fluctuated, Aston Villa has consistently performed in both the Premier League and Europa League. Aston Villa currently sits in third place in the table, just one point behind Manchester City and three points behind Arsenal. In terms of numbers, Aston Villa has a chance to win the title, although it seems a bit difficult due to Man City's recent strong form, at least Aston Villa can secure a top-four finish to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Emery has always been famous for his tactics and utilization of players who rely on good teamwork so that even if individually they lose but when talking about teamwork they can be better because of the collective play that is done and Aston Villa is not the first club that Emery has managed to transform like this.

Aston Villa's performance is still up and down for now but I think it is normal because an ordinary club for the current era can compete in the top standings and can even be in the race in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League zone it is still very good for them.
They know that even though the championship is an expectation that is always created but at this time their good performance like this must be appreciated when looking at the depth of their current squad.

[mv1986]

Since Unai Emery took over as manager, Aston Villa has become a tactically and mentally mature team, capable of challenging even the best teams. They even defeated Arsenal, who were in top form. While Aston Villa's performance has been extraordinary, unlike Newcastle, whose form has fluctuated, Aston Villa has consistently performed in both the Premier League and Europa League. Aston Villa currently sits in third place in the table, just one point behind Manchester City and three points behind Arsenal. In terms of numbers, Aston Villa has a chance to win the title, although it seems a bit difficult due to Man City's recent strong form, at least Aston Villa can secure a top-four finish to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Emery has always been famous for his tactics and utilization of players who rely on good teamwork so that even if individually they lose but when talking about teamwork they can be better because of the collective play that is done and Aston Villa is not the first club that Emery has managed to transform like this.

Aston Villa's performance is still up and down for now but I think it is normal because an ordinary club for the current era can compete in the top standings and can even be in the race in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League zone it is still very good for them.
They know that even though the championship is an expectation that is always created but at this time their good performance like this must be appreciated when looking at the depth of their current squad.

What Emery really got done is that Aston Villa finally is no losing team away from home anymore. That was their biggest weakness I think last season. They had a great record for all their home games, but messed it all up with their away from home games. This now seems to have clearly changed for the better. There is still room for improvement as their win rate sits at around 50% say from home, but last season they lost around half of their games away from home.

The gap has become huge now between the first three and then Chelsea. It is 7 points already. I didn't expect Aston Villa to be one of th serious contenders. Liverpool and Chelsea are out for the time being. Still enough time though, but the gap is quite big.

[Bigjoe33]

The gap has become huge now between the first three and then Chelsea. It is 7 points already. I didn't expect Aston Villa to be one of th serious contenders. Liverpool and Chelsea are out for the time being. Still enough time though, but the gap is quite big.

I would hold onto your point, that there is still time, and that's it. We are not yet at the start of the second or return leg, so there is still enough time to make up for any team that wishes to climb up. Just a match loss and a draw for any of the team up there, and that's it, the gaps are perfectly covered. When the time gets so serious like this, teams are the top has a great work to do, which is, to just keep winning, else, any mistake brings your rivals more close and a possible overturn. Aston Villa is doing great presently. They have created a solid team, especially matching there strength with other big teams and that is recommendable. Let's see how much they can last or can remain there, or possibly how they would end this season.

[Chainspector]

The gap has become huge now between the first three and then Chelsea. It is 7 points already. I didn't expect Aston Villa to be one of th serious contenders. Liverpool and Chelsea are out for the time being. Still enough time though, but the gap is quite big.

I would hold onto your point, that there is still time, and that's it. We are not yet at the start of the second or return leg, so there is still enough time to make up for any team that wishes to climb up. Just a match loss and a draw for any of the team up there, and that's it, the gaps are perfectly covered. When the time gets so serious like this, teams are the top has a great work to do, which is, to just keep winning, else, any mistake brings your rivals more close and a possible overturn. Aston Villa is doing great presently. They have created a solid team, especially matching there strength with other big teams and that is recommendable. Let's see how much they can last or can remain there, or possibly how they would end this season.

The idea of still having time especially as we are yet to start playing the return legs isn’t so much of a point I would want to hold on to. Of course, the teams at the top - Arsenal, Man City and Aston Villa will try as much as they can to avoid a draw or a loss at this point but the underlying reaction should these teams get a draw or a loss in the following fixtures falls back on these other clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U etc. How willing are they to create a consistent pattern that helps secure wins, so that they can cover the gap quickly.

Chelsea to me has been really inconsistent, Liverpool with the influx of quality players are still struggling to find their feet. This list goes on for the rest of the other teams. How title hungry are they (the club, manager, the players and even the fans) will show in the results as time goes by.

[ancafe]

What Emery really got done is that Aston Villa finally is no losing team away from home anymore. That was their biggest weakness I think last season. They had a great record for all their home games, but messed it all up with their away from home games. This now seems to have clearly changed for the better. There is still room for improvement as their win rate sits at around 50% say from home, but last season they lost around half of their games away from home.

Tactical flexibility has brought Aston Villa to a better position because he's given some players the freedom to make decisions on the pitch, such as giving them the freedom to take free-kicks on goal every time they get a chance. I've seen Aston Villa players do this often. If Aston Villa can perform better in the upcoming matches, it's not impossible that they could challenge for the title, as they are currently only three points behind Arsenal. This is a very good job by Unai Emery, as he's managed to make changes to the team.

[RockBell]

Unai Emery truly deserves some accolades with what he is doing so far with Aston Villa, for real. The work he has done is really impressive. Aston Villa are currently third on the table, and that alone speaks volume.
Not just that, they have gone ahead to beat top teams like Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, and recently Manchester United. These are big teams in the league, and Aston Villa did not just beat them by mistake.
What makes it even more interesting is that they are just 3 points behind the league leaders. That shows they are really competing at the top. Honestly, what unai Emery is doing with this team is something special, and he truly deserves the credit for real..

Aston Villa progress over the past few seasons is truly commendable. Unay understands his players aspirations, and this season's record alone demonstrates Aston Villa seriousness in their pursuit of a Champions League spot next season. A 7 point lead over Chelsea will be difficult to overtake, so Aston Villa can focus on securing second place, as they are only one point behind the Citizens. Even 3 points to catch Arsenal is a challenge in itself for Unay.

Aston Villa have been a team that cannot be underestimated in recent seasons, and this season they have continued to do so. They are really a team that can provide difficulties for teams that already have big names and they can also provide fierce competition in the positions that are contested.

And what is more remarkable in my opinion is that they can also be consistent in the last few seasons. Because there are also teams that can provide competition and only last one or two seasons. Like Newcaste for example, I'm not saying they are bad, but so far their consistency is still very lacking, even though they were widely talked about to be a new competing team a few seasons ago.

Since Unai Emery took over as manager, Aston Villa has become a tactically and mentally mature team, capable of challenging even the best teams. They even defeated Arsenal, who were in top form. While Aston Villa's performance has been extraordinary, unlike Newcastle, whose form has fluctuated, Aston Villa has consistently performed in both the Premier League and Europa League. Aston Villa currently sits in third place in the table, just one point behind Manchester City and three points behind Arsenal. In terms of numbers, Aston Villa has a chance to win the title, although it seems a bit difficult due to Man City's recent strong form, at least Aston Villa can secure a top-four finish to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Unai Emery is doing excellently well as the manager of Aston Villa this is the man that is behind the troubling of other clubs because I'm very sure that any club playing against aston Villa are going to be scared because they don't know if they will be able to win the money  the fact that they broke Arsenal on unbeaten record makes them very dangerous when you are playing against them and that is why when I saw them playing against Manchester United I already knew that there is no way Manchester United will be able to defeat them because they are always Coming prepared in every single game they play, even with their stability I don't see Aston Villa we need the title this season i still have full assurance that Arsenal will be the one winning the title they have contributed and invested a lot of energy, getting to where they are so i see them winning the trophy.

[letteredhub]

undoubtedly Aston villa has become one of the best performing teams in this era under Unai Emery the villa boss, Unai Emery's style of coaching has transformed the villa side from being a mediocre team to one of Europe's finest outfit competing favourably among the best teams in the champions league have been consistently qualifying for the competition thereby making teams like manchester united to be left out action for quite sometime now, i think Aston villa's emergence in the top five is what has made some teams like Manchester united to be struggling to make it to the UCL.

Aston Villa is not a mediocre team - I disagree with that statement. Aston Villa was a team that was previously in the middle of the table before Unai Emery arrived - but his arrival has improved things, leading to better team performance. A mediocre team is a team that cannot be relied upon – and is very likely not to be in the top league for several consecutive seasons. In fact, Aston Villa was already in the top league even before Unai Emery arrived, but their performance certainly wasn't like it is now.

Actually to me when a team in the top 4 are not there with sole aim to win title but just to secure a place in the top 4 then you're nothing other than a mediocre team in the race. By the time we get to March next year we would start to observe how the table in the top 4 setting would be reshuffled and then we can argue whether really am wrong or not.

After all, Manchester United's decline in the Premier League is not primarily due to teams like Aston Villa, but rather because Manchester United seems to have lost its identity since Ferguson retired. Aston Villa is a team that doesn't really set winning titles as their main target - while Manchester United always wants to strive to return to the pinnacle of glory, and this is a difficult pressure to handle.

Now you have helped me by making the point yourself as why I proscribed them as a mediocre team which I as well don't mean to disrespect them, but Aston villa ain't in the race for title but just to maintain at least a good position that can take them to either the UCL or europa league. What stops them to contending for title as a team like Manchester United if we're to be at that performance and position would have done. Nevertheless,  I  didn't mean to say that Manchester United are struggling due to Aston villa's uprising in the last two seasons.

[Just Say]

Fulham are looking to build consistency in their play as we saw yesterday when they defeated Nottingham Forest in the final match of the 17th round.Nottingham Forest was the favored team in this match of the 17th round of the Premier League and most of the bettors were in their favor but Nottingham lost this match due to a slight inconsistency.

A penalty actually changed the fortunes of Fulham in this match, indeed, Jimenez scored a very successful goal from the penalty spot in the 50th minute, giving the team a sufficient lead to advance in the game, moreover it surprises me that Fulham achieved the feat of winning two consecutive matches in the PL by winning this game.