Will Aston Villa win the Premier League like Leicester City in 2016?

The Premier League is a competition that has been dominated by a few clubs in the last few seasons.

Manchester City has won five of the last six and they have dominated the competition so much that people are beginning to doubt its quality.

Last season, Arsenal nearly won the league and were at the top of the standings for more than 200 days.

It would have been a remarkable win for the Gunners, but they are one of the traditionally top clubs in the Premier League and not everyone would have been surprised if they had emerged as champions.

Arsenal’s win would not have come close to the victory of Leicester City in 2016 after the Foxes proved to be too good for everyone under Claudio Ranieri.

That year, every top club struggled, with Tottenham becoming the main challenger to the Foxes.

Ranieri’s men stunned all of us, thanks to players like Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kante, who were relatively unknown in the seasons before the 2015/2016 term.

Their success that term is a once-in-a-generation kind of triumph, or that is what we thought as they were complete outsiders before the term began.

However, can Aston Villa become the latest club to win the league out of nowhere?

Unai Emery’s men have simply been superb this term and after beating Arsenal and Manchester City, do you still have doubts about them?

Emery is one of the most underrated managers in world football, which can be baffling because the Spanish coach has often proven to be too good to be ignored, even at his other clubs.

Aston Villa ticket buyers know they have a team they can believe in to win a trophy and a manager who has succeeded at his other clubs.

This season is shaping up to become another unpredictable term as the big clubs in the competition lack consistency and no team has taken a clear lead yet.

After 17 matches, Villa is third on the Premier League table, just one point away from the top of the league standings and four above Manchester City.

Only Liverpool and Arsenal are above Villa in the standings at the moment and those are two clubs Villa will struggle to topple, but can this be Aston Villa’s season?

Strong squad

Before Emery came to town, Villa had shown some ambition and backed Steven Gerrard with some of the finest players in Europe.

Some of their high-profile signings under the former Liverpool captain include Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey and Diego Carlos.

These players were sought after by bigger clubs, but Villa won the race for their signatures, which was a clear sign that they are ready to challenge the top teams in the league.

Under Emery, they continued to strengthen their squad with the likes of Mousa Diaby and Pau Torres; again, top clubs wanted these players, and Villa won the race for their signature.

Apart from signing top talents, they turned down offers for some of their best men, with Arsenal failing repeatedly to sign Douglas Luiz, who has become one of the most important players at Villa Park now.

A combination of signing top players and keeping their most important men have made Villa the envy of most football fans.

Their positive decisions are also contributing to the on-field success that they have enjoyed in this campaign.

Emery has a squad he can trust to go all the way and the more games they win, the more confident Villa will be until the end of the season.

An experienced manager

Emery may go down as one of the most underrated coaches of all time, as it is baffling that most top clubs do not want him for the long term.

The Spaniard started doing exploits from his time as the manager of Almeria, whom he took to La Liga against all odds, and it landed him the Valencia job.

Los Che is one of the finest Spanish clubs, but they were not expected to consistently qualify for the Champions League as they did under Emery.

The young manager developed the likes of David Villa and David Silva, among other top players. Even when these talented players were sold, he still helped the team finish in the top four before leaving the club.

At Sevilla, he continued his hot streak of being a top underrated manager and won three consecutive Europa League trophies with the Seville side.

After his exploits there, he earned the PSG managerial job, but he was sacked after two seasons even though he won the league.

That was not the most comfortable place for him before he moved to another big club, Arsenal, where he was sacked again after 18 months despite reaching the Europa League final.

It seems as though Emery does like a challenge and does not feel comfortable at bigger clubs because he moved to Villarreal after his spell at Arsenal and was successful there, winning the Europa League.

Emery’s record as an underrated manager makes him a potential Premier League winner and he is probably the most important figure at Villa now.

Struggles of Premier League elites

This is one of those seasons that no top Premier League side has stood out among the rest as a team that can easily win the league.

Manchester City were tipped to be champions and most people still believe the Citizens can still win the league, but we all know the City team of this season is poorer than the one we have become accustomed to.

Liverpool looks in better shape, but their first match against Manchester United showed they are not as strong as we probably expect them to be.

The Reds were not expected to challenge for the Premier League this season after failing to make the top four in the last campaign.

They might take advantage of City’s struggles to challenge for the title, but they do not look invincible.

Arsenal led the standings for more than 200 days last season and still did not win the league, which has led to us wondering if they are now mature enough to be champions.

Inconsistency has also been a problem for the Gunners this term, which could see them lose ground to Villa.

These are the favourites among the top clubs in England, but none is having a superb season, so Villa will feel they have a chance to be champions and get an upsetting win.

Consistency of performance

While the top clubs in the competition have struggled with consistency, Villa has been doing well in the Premier League this term.

The Villans faced a run of tough games in November and at the start of December and did very well in them.

Unai Emery’s men defeated Arsenal and Manchester City and maintained a 15-game winning run at home in the Premier League, which is remarkable.

This type of consistency can make any team a champion in any competition, so we have to take Villa seriously now.

There is still a long way to go, but Villa has a manager who knows how to play the long game, so we expect them to continue making progress under Emery and we will not be so surprised if they win the league.