Analysis: Ruthless Aston Villa a tough team to bet against in race for Europe

Yet just at this moment, it would be a brave person who bet against his team clearing them.

Villa currently have the look of a ruthless, winning machine. Saturday’s victory over Nottingham Forest was their fourth straight in the Premier League and their sixth in the last seven matches.

Having spent nearly three months sat 11th in the table, seemingly going nowhere to the casual observer, they are now up to sixth. Rivals in the race for a spot which would surely be good enough for Europa League qualification might have games in hand but it is Villa who have the points on the board and are suddenly the team to catch.

The pessimist might claim Emery’s men have spent the past month-and-a-half feasting on a fixture list which has pitted them almost exclusively against opponents from the bottom end of the standings.

But that itself is far from easy in a division so competitive and besides, a broader inspection of Emery’s work confirms Villa’s strong run under the Spaniard to be no small sample size. They have now won 11 out of 17 league matches since he took charge at the start of November, including victories over Manchester United and Tottenham.

In short, Villa have maintained the form of Champions League contenders for nearly half a season and while the current winning streak will inevitably end at some point, it would be surprising if their form tailed off completely no matter how much tougher the schedule on paper.

At the very least, the top half finish which was an aspiration barely a week ago now feels increasingly within their grasp. Saturday’s win saw Villa climb eight points clear of 11th-placed Chelsea.

And yet now, of course, they want more. If you couldn’t hear it in the near deafening roar which greeted the players as they approached the Holte End following the final whistle, you could see it in the beaming, excited smile of John McGinn as he searched for the words to sum up the moment shortly afterwards.

The club’s longest-serving outfield player is better placed than anyone to appreciate the significance of recent results. After five years in which he has experienced promotion, a dramatic escape from relegation and plenty in between, breaking into the top six represents a new high point.

For supporters who suffered through the club's slide since the last time they were serious contenders for Europe, the journey has been even longer and far more tortuous. Villa have not been this high in the Premier League so late in the season since 2010. Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, these really are times to savour.

McGinn, like Emery, noted the difficulty of the matches ahead, starting with Saturday’s visit of a Newcastle team also in stellar form and chasing a dream of their own a little higher up the table.

But the skipper also stressed the importance of taking stock and appreciating the remarkable transformation which has seen Villa go from relegation candidates in the autumn to European hopefuls in the spring.

McGinn, of course, was part of the team which won 10 matches in a row en route to winning promotion from the Championship and drew parallels with the outfit he now leads who, in similar style to the class of 2019, have developed the happy knack of finding a way to win.

The three matches since the international break have been evidence of that. Each has demanded something slightly different of Emery’s men. Each has ended with Villa victorious.

On Saturday, they needed considerable reserves of patience against a Forest team content to sit back and stifle in the hope of grinding out a point in their battle against the drop.

The one blot on Villa’s afternoon was a hamstring injury sustained by Leon Bailey, further reducing the reserves of an already thin squad.

Yet on this occasion, at least, it was his replacement who made the breakthrough. Bertrand Traore’s performance after replacing Bailey on the half hour was close to a microcosm of his Villa career and there were times, prior to the break, when the Burkina Faso international gave a passable impression of a man seeing a football for the very first time.

But three minutes after the restart, Traore typically did what no-one else was expecting when he hit a first-time cross with the outside of his left boot after racing on to Ashley Young’s chip. After Keylor Navas had palmed it away, Jonjo Shelvey then did what no-one bar Traore seemed to be expecting when he rolled the ball back into the Villa man’s path. The first-time finish could not have been better placed, just inside the post.

From there, a Villa team who have now conceded just twice in seven matches were always in control. Ollie Watkins’ ninth goal in 11 matches was the final act of a win which saw Villa surpass last season’s points tally with eight matches to go.

The run-in starts against the Magpies on Saturday, continues the following weekend at Brentford, with matches against Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton – who visit Villa Park on final day – also on the list.

For drama, it could not be set up more perfectly. Villa could not be entering the campaign’s defining period in any better spirits.