Is that it, then? Was Aston Villa’s Premier League title run a three-week wonder, a fantasy bookended by two games against Arsenal?
Perhaps. But it doesn’t matter. It is too early to tell for sure – and let me nod to David Michael’s complaint on this page on Wednesday, suggesting all talk of titles is too early at this stage anyway. Unai Emery himself would no doubt also endorse that view.
So, let’s qualify it a little and say Villa were being spoken of as contenders to Arsenal and Manchester City on account of having shown not only their ability to beat both those sides, but also to string together victories when playing well and when they weren’t. Perhaps the title chatter is better viewed as a tacit acknowledgement that Villa may be ready to break out of the upper-middle group of Premier League clubs and bridge across to the top bracket.
The most significant factor holding them back may be squad depth, and there was evidence of this at Emirates Stadium.
For Arsenal, Gabriel scored on his first start for seven weeks and Gabriel Jesus built up his return from injury with his first goal in almost a year. In contrast, while Villa have handled injuries to Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings well enough, suspensions for Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara pulled more players away from their ideal positions. Amadou Onana’s tight hamstring at half-time stretched the elastic a little too far.
Even though the final result was conclusive, Villa had made Arsenal fret in the first 45 minutes. One sharper finish might have given Villa a half-time lead and changed the character of the match decisively.
But all is not lost. Far from it.
Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest will tell us more about whether Villa have been knocked far off balance by the second half at the Emirates. A confident showing in that game would confirm they are still capable of chasing the leaders hard in the second part of the season.
The longer-term view is more important, however. Villa start the new year third in the Premier League and well placed to reach the knockout stage of the Europa League. Their objectives for the campaign are clearly within range.
Villa have begun each previous new year under Emery well positioned to take the club further forward, and the same is true at the dawn of 2026.