Aston Villa are the surprise team of the current Premier League season with Unai Emery. Premier League data and facts highlight how well the Birmingham team is doing. Villa have become a truly top team since Emery’s arrival. The Spaniard is ranked seventh in the ranking of coaches having totaled the most points in the first 40 Premier League matches with a club.

Just ahead of him are Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City) and Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) with 82 points each after 40 games. In first position – how could it be otherwise – is « The Special One » José Mourinho. Starting in 2004, he scored 101 points in his first 40 Premier League games with Chelsea. Or to put it another way: The Special One only gave up 19 points to the Blues, simply incredible.

And now back to Emery and Aston Villa. When the Villans host Arsenal FC on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., “top game” will be the name of the match. Aston Villa are third in the table after their 1-0 victory against Manchester City, Arsenal are first. The evolution of the host is impressive.

It didn’t take long after Emery took over for the third-placed team’s xGoals stats to completely turn around. In 25 of the last 26 matches, Aston Villa have consistently managed more xGoals than their opponents, a testament to their dominant style of play.

The showpiece match against Arsenal FC will take place on Saturday. Can Emery bother his old team with Aston Villa?