\n<\/p>\n
Aston Villa\u2019s latest comeback win has highlighted coach Unai Emery\u2019s remarkable record of turning around games, which has put his side firmly in the Premier League title race.<\/p>\n
After Saturday\u2019s 2-1 win at Chelsea \u2013 their 12th in 13th league matches \u2013 Villa have claimed 18 points from losing positions so far this season, more than any other team.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n And it is not just this year that the Spaniard has been \u2060affecting games with his decision-making. Across the last three seasons, Villa have won more points from matches in \u200bwhich they were losing than any other Premier League team, according to data firm Opta.<\/p>\n In \u200dthe 58th minute on Saturday, with Chelsea 1-0 up and looking in control, Emery gambled on a triple substitution, bringing on Ollie Watkins and more attacking firepower in the form of winger Jadon Sancho, along with midfielder Amadou Onana.<\/p>\n Five minutes later, Watkins \u200dpounced on a \u2060through ball by Morgan Rogers to beat Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal.<\/p>\n Buoyed by their equaliser and their change of personnel, Villa looked transformed from the side that was pinned back by their hosts for most of the first hour.<\/p>\n In the 84th minute, Watkins \u2013 hoping for a place in the England World Cup squad next summer \u2013 met a Youri Tielemans corner with an angled header that left Sanchez with no chance.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a tactical genius,\u201d Watkins said when asked by Sky \u200bSports about Emery\u2019s ability to change the momentum of matches.<\/p>\n The coach himself tried \u200cto sound a bit less effusive. \u201cIt\u2019s something, of course, that makes us proud of everything we are doing,\u201d Emery said when asked about Villa\u2019s ability to turn losing situations into victories.<\/p>\n He sought to play down his side\u2019s chances of winning the title, despite \u200ctheir blistering form.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not feeling it,\u201d Emery said. \u201cI am feeling we competing very well, and we are now the third in the league with two \u200cteams, Manchester City and Arsenal, wow.\u201d<\/p>\n But with the season only halfway \u2060through, Villa, who struggled badly at the start of the campaign, need to show more consistency, he said.<\/p>\n Villa face league leaders Arsenal in London on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had to face questions about much less impressive statistics for his young side, who have \u200cdropped 11 points from winning positions in home Premier League matches this season \u2013 four more than any other side.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to understand why when we concede a goal, we struggle a bit to manage the game,\u201d \u200dthe Italian told reporters.<\/p>\n He was left to rue Chelsea\u2019s failure to build a bigger lead before Villa\u2019s fightback.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time they scored the goal, I think we should have scored two to three goals,\u201d Maresca said.<\/p>\n Manchester City threw down the gauntlet for the \u200dsecond successive weekend, and Arsenal proved undaunted \u200das they kicked off their festive fixtures with a narrow 2-1 defeat of Brighton & Hove Albion to stay as Premier League leaders on Saturday.<\/p>\n City won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest, with Rayan Cherki grabbing a goal and an assist to briefly move to the top of the pile.<\/p>\n But Arsenal, just as they had done last week by beating Everton after City\u2019s earlier win over West Ham United, were unwavering as captain Martin Odegaard scored his first goal of the season for Mikel Arteta\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Arsenal also needed an own goal and \u2060a spectacular save by keeper David Raya to preserve their lead, as the halfway point in the Premier League season looms.<\/p>\n The London side have 42 points from 18 games, with City on 40.<\/p>\n When Odegaard drilled in a 14th-minute opener for the Gunners, and Georginio Rutter\u2019s own goal from a Declan Rice corner made it 2-0 shortly after the break, it should have been \u200ba routine three points for the hosts.<\/p>\n But Diego Gomez\u2019s reply for Brighton changed the complexion of the contest, and there was relief at the final \u200cwhistle as Arsenal cleared another obstacle in the title chase.<\/p>\n \u201cThe knock-on effect of winning is incredibly powerful,\u201d Arteta said of a victory that should have been easier.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should never be 2-1, but that\u2019s the Premier League. What I like is that we have a lot of issues [but] we\u2019re dealing with it in an incredible way. Yesterday, we lost Jurrien [Timber]; today, we lost [Riccardo] Calafiori in the warm-up; Declan [Rice] has to play as a full-back, and you see the performance that \u200che put in. So, that\u2019s the spirit and that\u2019s how much our players want it.\u201d<\/p>\n Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on an emotional Anfield afternoon, when both sets of fans remembered the late Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash in July.<\/p>\n Wirtz doubled Liverpool\u2019s lead shortly after Ryan Gravenberch had put them in front, although Wolves rallied in the second half and Santiago Bueno pulled a goal back.<\/p>\n Reigning champions Liverpool moved fourth on 32 \u200dpoints, while the misery for the \u2060bottom club Wolves continues.<\/p>\n They have now broken the Premier League record for winless starts to a season and have two points from 18 games, and are 16 points behind the fourth-from-bottom Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aston Villa\u2019s latest comeback win has highlighted coach Unai Emery\u2019s remarkable record of turning around games, which has put his side firmly in the Premier League title race. After Saturday\u2019s 2-1 win at Chelsea \u2013 their 12th in 13th league matches \u2013 Villa have claimed 18 points from losing positions so far this season, more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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