'I have a feeling' - Unai Emery insists Aston Villa aren't Premier League title contenders despite record-equalling run of 11 straight wins

The Blues were dominant for the opening hour at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night but failed to build upon Pedro's first half goal. Emery's triple change on the hour mark, with Amadou Onana, Jadon Sancho and Ollie Watkins all introduced, stunned the west London side and swung the tie in Villa's favour.

A second half Watkins brace saw Villa claimed an 11th-straight competitive win, and an eighth successive Premier League victory to close the gap to league leaders Arsenal to three points. The Villans take on the Gunners in midweek to round off 2025 as they seek to do the double over the north London side.

However, despite Villa's impressive form and position in the table, despite a five-game winless run to kick off the campaign, Emery insists that his side are not Premier League title contenders. 

Following Saturday's Stamford Bridge success, Emery was asked whether Villa were in the title race, to which he replied: "Not really. Not really. I have a feeling that we are competing very well, and we are now third in the league with two teams in Manchester City and Arsenal - wow, fantastic teams.

"We have to play 38 matches. We have played 18 and still have 20 to play. Teams like Liverpool, like Chelsea, like Manchester United - we must compete against them. We have to try to be consistent over 38 matches."

Emery was then quizzed whether a win over Arsenal next week would see him change his mind, with the Spaniard stating: "You are asking me now about the match against Arsenal? It's very, very difficult. Now it is 'wow'.

"In the Emirates they are so, so, so strong. The next challenge is the biggest we will face because they are the best team now. They are playing fantastic in the Premier League and Champions League. We have very good players and I try to set our demands high for everything."

Villa are unbeaten on their last two trips to Arsenal, following up a 2-0 win at the Emirates in 2024 with a 2-2 draw in north London at the turn of the year. And Watkins, who scored in both results, praised his boss following Saturday's result.

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Watkins started Saturday's game in the capital on the bench with Donyell Malen preferred to the 29-year-old at the weekend. The England international was the Villa hero at Chelsea as he came off the bench to score his fourth and fifth league goals of the season.

And Watkins labelled Emery a "tactical genius" following the 2-1 victory at the Blues. "Unai Emery is a tactical genius, and I want to say that," the Villans hitman said on Saturday night.

"He changed our system because Chelsea were playing man-to-man, but they had an extra centre-back when we went long. When I came on in the second half, he brought Jadon Sancho and Morgan Rogers out wide and moved Youri Tielemans into the No.10 role. That gave us an extra player in that area. He’s a tactical genius!"

Villa's 2-1 win at Chelsea did come at a cost, however. Key pair Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara were both carded either side of half time, meaning they'll miss Tuesday's game at Arsenal due to suspension, which could see Andres Garcia and Lamare Bogarde come into the side at right-back and central midfield, respectively, as Villa seek to make it 12 successive wins for the first time in their history.

Villa's run of 11 wins on the bounce means the 2025 team stand shoulder to shoulder with the record set in 1897 and 1914.