'Arsenal are favourites’ - Unai Emery makes Premier League title prediction after claiming Aston Villa are ‘not really’ in race

All eyes will turn to north London on Tuesday when Arsenal entertain Villa in what is shaping up to be a massive game at the top of the league table.

The Gunners head into the match in great spirits having put together a five-game winning run in all competitions following their 2-1 loss at the hands of Emery’s Villa at the start of the month.

On the back of Villa midfielder Emi Buendia’s last-gasp winner in the reverse fixture just 23 days ago, Arsenal have bounced back by securing victories over Club Brugge, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion across the league, Champions League and Carabao Cup respectively.

While Arteta’s men have not quite been at their sparkling best in those wins, they have shown excellent resilience to continually claim three points while not operating at 100 per cent, especially amid a defensive injury crisis which has resulted in the recent losses of Jurrien Timber, Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori.

Arsenal were momentarily replaced at the summit by fellow title contenders Manchester City on Saturday, following their 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the day, before reclaiming top spot after beating Brighton by the same scoreline on home soil.

Meanwhile, Emery’s Villa are also on song ahead of the trip to Arsenal, having won their 11th consecutive match in all competitions following the comeback victory over Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Matching a club record dating back to both 1897 and 1914, Villa achieved the feat as substitute Ollie Watkins scored twice in the second half to send the away fans into raptures at Stamford Bridge, leading to chants of ‘We’re going to win the league’.

Like Arsenal, Villa - who are just three points behind Arteta’s side in third - have proven time and again this season that they have grit in abundance, with Emery’s charges having come from behind in each of their five wins on the road.

However, while the stats make for impressive reading, Emery has repeatedly played down talk of Villa being in the title race alongside both Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s City this season.

When asked if he believes Villa can win their first league title since the 1980-81 campaign, the former Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla boss simply said after the Chelsea victory: “Not really.”

He then added: “I am feeling that we are competing for Europe, not competing in the league with Man City and Arsenal. We have played 18 matches and have 20 to play. Teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United - we must compete with them. We must be consistent over 38 matches.”

Continuing to rule Villa out of the title mix in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Arsenal game, the 54-year-old did take the opportunity to play some mind games, however, by branding Arteta’s charges as frontrunners in the race.

"I think they are favourites,” Emery said. “How they are building the team. How they are improving a lot of things. They have more players in their squad, two players in each position. Some players they have had coming back after being injured like [Kai] Havertz and [Gabriel] Jesus. And of course, look and see now - stronger.

"We analyse to play them tomorrow like we analysed three weeks ago and we have enough players, enough structure, tactically, individually and mentally to face them, but, of course, it is going to be the biggest test we will face.

"Manchester City as well, they are performing fantastic and we must be proud of everything we are doing - one point behind Man City and three points behind Arsenal, but we must be humble, we must be confident but we must be, as well, ambitious. Our ambition is, go tomorrow to face them, and we will see how we are facing them.”

While Emery remains pessimistic about Villa’s title chances, Arsenal boss Arteta said his team are up for the challenge of competing with Man City following his side’s win over Brighton last time out.