“Well done to Aston Villa but they won’t win the League, and I’d be surprised if they finished in the top four” – Garry Neville issues honest Aston Villa admission amid recent form

In a surprising turn of events, Garry Neville has issued comments on Aston Villa’s recent form and despite their recent home wins, he believes they do not have a shot at the title.

In the space of one week, Emery’s side took on former Premier League champions, Manchester City and secured a win over Guardiola’s side and also did the same to the Gunners at Villa Park.

Reacting to their recent wins and move up the Premiere League table, Garry Neville issues his comment, first calling Unai Emery a brilliant manager and speaking on his impact on Aston Villa.

Although, with the praises came an honest admission when Neville stated that despite all, he doesn’t think they can win the League.

“They are really good, I had them fifth in the season and thought Unai Emery would do something really good with them. I’ve got so much respect for him as a coach. I learnt a lot about him when I was over in Valencia for that four months about how he operated and how he was thought of over there” he said to Sky Sports.

“It was a bit difficult for him at Arsenal but he is a brilliant coach and what they’re doing, I don’t think it’s just a moment. It will be difficult to sustain it in the long term because of the lack of spending capacity of the clubs. But I think what we’re seeing here at this moment is they they’re here to stay.

“I saw them fifth in the season and I think that’s where they could end. Manchester United and Chelsea are awful at this moment in time, you know they spent a fortune, so there’s a chance in that fourth space.”

When asked to compare Aston Villa now to Leicester City in December 2015, his reply was quite simple.

“Villa are as good as Leicester but I think that was a poor season in the Premier League in terms of the top clubs. For me, I think that they are definitely equal or better than Leicester were in 2015 but that won’t translate into the same achievement.

“For Villa to be where they are, it’s exceptional with where they were in the last few years, so, for me, well-done to Aston Villa but they won’t win the League and I’d be surprised if they finished in the top four but I’d love them to.

Unai Emery on the other hand does not seem to have let his recent win against the big teams make them settle down or lose form as he said in his post match interview.

“We are not contenders,” the Villa boss responded when asked if his side could fight for the title. “There are seven teams more contenders than us. This is day 15. Day 16 is against Arsenal.

“We must focus. We are happy to be third, but to keep it will be very difficult. While we are there we will try to keep it.“There are still a lot of matches to play. If we keep progressing during the season – playing matches and winning like we are doing – maybe we can get to be contenders but not now. I think we need more time.