Unai Emery believes other teams in the Premier League are better contenders than Aston Villa in the title race despite their excellent form.Â
The Villans extended their winning streak to 11 matches after they came from behind to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
The hosts took a first-half lead after Reece James’ corner fortuitously went in off the back of Joao Pedro’s leg.
Villa, though, hit back after the interval when super sub Ollie Watkins grabbed a brace to keep the midlands outfit within three points of leaders Arsenal.
Emery praised his team’s resilience and mindset after Chelsea put them under the cosh for the opening hour of the game.
“We were a little bit upset about the result and how we were performing in the first half, but it’s something normal playing Chelsea at home,” he told Sky Sports.
“But 90 minutes is 90 minutes. In all our matches, we are getting our momentum and through it, we are showing our capacity to play well.
“In the second half, we were getting better and we came back to get a result because the players show the capacity, resilience and their mentality to keep to the game plan and follow it strongly.”
Emery makes surprising Premier League title race comment
Despite boasting a considerable points lead over the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, Emery argued that those teams are bigger challengers to the title than Villa.
“On day 34, we will speak about it,” he said. “Now we are on day 18. The next match is day 19 and we are going to play against Arsenal and the Nottingham Forest the next week.
“If the league was finishing against Arsenal, we are in the title race, but there are teams like Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea who are contending more than us.
“We are competing very well and are getting better. Two months ago, we were speaking about a different moment and we were worried. Now, we are happy.
“We learnt a lot from the process two months ago and now we are humble and realistic and we know how we can do in each game and each competition.”
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