After a week to savour, Aston Villa are third in the table and enjoying their best-ever Premier League campaign at this stage.
Not since 1980-81 have they amassed 35 or more points after 16 games, with the previous three occasions coming more than a century ago.
It has echoes of Newcastle last season, but even then Villa are currently outdoing Eddie Howe’s side in terms of points, and what had been a top-four push has now transformed into talk of a title challenge after 1-0 wins over Manchester City and Arsenal.
But, rightly, Villa are doing their best to ignore the outside hype. “I’m banning the T-word,” said John McGinn, who scored the winner against Arsenal. “It’s gameweek 16, so there’s a long way to go.
“We respect everyone around us who has been in these positions for years. They are so experienced. We’re newbies, can we keep it up? I don’t know. We’ll see. Hopefully, the targets have been revised, we have to try and improve our away form, which isn’t horrendous but can be improved.”
Under Unai Emery, McGinn is just one of a near entire squad that has improved since Steven Gerrard was sacked and the Spaniard was brought in 13 months ago.
McGinn has started every Premier League game this season. Likewise Douglas Luiz, and Boubacar Kamara would have too were it not for a one-match suspension.
And it is this midfield trio who are driving Villa’s unlikely bid to disrupt the status quo. The remarkable consistency – Luiz now on a 47-game and McGinn a 32-game starting streak in the league – has given Emery’s team a solid, trusted foundation at the very heart of the pitch.
Luiz makes things tick. Second only behind Pau Torres (1,066) for passes (955), and while he has five goals this season – one off his best league tally from last year already – defensively he is leading the way for tackles at Villa, 36 to Kamara’s 32.
And the composure both possess on the ball makes them the calming influence Emery requires for his side to play their way out of trouble.
Meanwhile, numbers only go so far as to describe McGinn’s performance against Arsenal. One goal, the deciding goal, as well as the most duels won (seven), most successful dribbles (three) and the joint-most tackles (five).
He was everywhere, getting supporters off their seats not only for his seventh-minute strike but for the smaller moments that mean a great deal – the swarming of an opponent that wins an unlikely throw-in, a bulldozing tackle to stop the next wave of attack.
And given the license to do so with Luiz and Kamara behind him, the sight of “Meatball” McGinn pressing you at full speed is not for the faint-hearted.
“The defence make our job a lot easier. It’s about trying to pick your moments to go and press, and a lot of our play is about positioning. Thankfully it has allowed me to thrive,” McGinn told Sky Sports afterwards.
What a move. What a moment.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 9, 2023
@JMcGinn7 pic.twitter.com/sdpNYROn9z
And what value can you put on this trio? McGinn joined for a reported £2.7m from Hibernian in 2018, Luiz a £15m signing from Manchester City a year later, while Kamara joined for free in 2022 in what goes down as Gerrard’s best input for the club – having gone to the player’s home to convince him to join.
Just £17.7m combined, but with Arsenal supposedly sniffing around Luiz, a £200m pricetag on the trio does not even feel outlandish.
With the Gunners themselves, plus Chelsea, having raised the bar for midfield fees, Villa would be right to think they have their own £100m midfielder in 25-year-old Luiz, especially with the Brazilian having signed a new “long-term” contract last year.
Between Kamara, 24, and 29-year-old McGinn you could arguably split the second £100m 60-40, but right now they are priceless in the current Villa cause, which at the very least now will be chasing Champions League football next season.
And what should give Villa fans hope, amid injury difficulties for Newcastle and Spurs, is the depth they have in this area. Youri Tielemans is playing a more advanced role currently but capable of dropping back, while being able to call on Jacob Ramsey and Leander Dendoncker from the bench – as Emery did against Arsenal – is a sign this squad are in rude health and riding the crest of a wave.
“We are there because we deserve it,” said Emery, and like the majority of his decisions so far this season, he’s not wrong.
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