In a sense of serious irony, Aston Villa continue to have an enormous say on the Premier League title race. It was Unai Emery returning to the Emirates Stadium that saw Manchester City handed top spot at the end of last season and now, in the space of four weeks, they have levelled the playing field again.
Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium brought back flashes of their second-half collapse when losing 2-0 in the same fixture in mid-April 2024. The slipup there proved costly.
It was the only defeat between January 20 and May 19 that Mikel Arteta’s side suffered in the league in the middle of a 12-game unbeaten run including 11 victories. They would also win the final five to take the race down to the wire but fell short to a relentless City.
Last month’s failure to beat Villa from 2-0 up felt like a defining moment again. It came shortly after Liverpool had burgled a last-minute victory over Brentford and saw the gap at the top stand at six points but Arne Slot’s side had a game in hand.
Arsenal, still yet to really hit top-form, had let the gap open up to Liverpool without putting up much resistance. Since then they have been perfect in terms of results, edging past Wolves, crushing City, and finding a way at Leicester City. Liverpool, conversely, have blinked.
The Reds have played five league games in the same period and won three, like Arsenal. The two draws, away to Everton in the postponed Merseyside derby, and then on Wednesday night at Villa Park, have opened the door ever so slightly.
