Last season we finally witnessed some disruption to the typical ‘top six’ in the Premier League. Newcastle, Brighton, and Aston Villa put together frankly incredible runs to claim places in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League respectively. Hopes were high that all three could continue to push the envelope this campaign, but so far only one looks like they’ve made considerable strides forward.
Just three points behind Manchester City as FFT went to press and averaging 2.5 goals a game, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are the real deal this term. Individual performances from the likes of Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby have attracted the headlines, but the unsung star of the show has been a setup that the rest of the division regularly struggles to cope with.