Aston Villa's next five Premier League games v Arsenal, Man City and more

Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw away at Bournemouth in their most recent Premier League outing

Aston Villa’s hopes of an unlikely Premier League title faded this weekend after the team were held to a 1-1 draw away at Bournemouth.

Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Bournemouth over the weekend | Getty Images

placeholder image — Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Bournemouth over the weekend | Getty Images

Unai Emery, who has historically got the better of Andoni Iraola in his previous meetings with the fellow Spaniard, saw his team go in front through Morgan Rogers’ brilliantly executed first half finish.

But as the game progressed it was Bournemouth that ended up dominating the contest. They equalised excellently through January signing Rayan with an inspired solo finish and continued to knock on the door for a winner, forcing Emi Martinez into seven saves from the 20 shots they fired at Villa’s goal.

The weekend’s results saw Arsenal boost their gap at the top of the table to nine points after a thumping 3-0 win over Sunderland, but it’s worth noting that Manchester City still have to travel to Liverpool later today.

Villa are experiencing a special season, but how likely is a title push? And is there still room for Villa to catch up to the teams around them? Here we take a look at how their fixtures compare to Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and a resurgent Manchester United.

Aston Villa’s next five league games assessed

Aston Villa host Brighton & Hove Albion in their next league match in midweek. The Lions are currently 10 places above the Seagulls and are expected to be the favourites.

They then play host to strugglers Leeds United 10 days later but are likely to face a challenging game against Daniel Farke’s side, who have been in strong form in recent months.

An away trip to basement side Wolves follows for Unai Emery’s men giving the team a valuable opportunity to boost their title dreams.

The month of March then begins with a challenging home clash against Champions League hopefuls Chelsea and an equally important trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United as they look to put and end to the club’s new manager bounce under Michael Carrick.

How Aston Villa’s fixtures compare to their rivals

Aston Villa boast a three point gap on fourth placed Manchester United and a five point gap on fifth placed Chelsea. They are level on points with second placed Manchester City at the time of writing, but are trailing league leaders Arsenal by nine points.

The Lions are also eight points ahead of sixth placed Liverpool, leaving them in a strong position to return to the Champions League after missing out by the finest margins last season. Here’s how Aston Villa’s fixtures compare to the teams around them.