‘This year is different’ - Unai Emery admits new Aston Villa weakness exposed by Chelsea and Tottenham

Villa are without a win in eight matches across all competitions following Sunday afternoon’s demoralising 3-0 Premier League defeat away at Chelsea.

Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer sealed a comfortable three points for the hosts, dropping Villa down to 12th in the Premier League standings. The Villans lacked poise and confidence throughout, evident through sloppy giveaways of possession, unforced errors and poor finishing.

Emery is confident his team can escape their rut and rise back up the table but he’s aware of a new challenge facing his players this term. The Spanish head coach believes opponents are taking his side more seriously this campaign as the dark horse status has gone astray.

“We lost against Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea, those three teams away. Last year we got a good result at Tottenham and Chelsea. This year has been different because we are not a surprise like last year,” Emery admitted during the post-match press conference at Stamford Bridge.

“They (Chelsea) don’t have doubt like last year and we were being consistent last year with the same idea and style with the same players. This year a lot of teams are trying to face us thinking we are an opponent to be in the top seven.

“Chelsea deserved to win but we have to keep calm. We lost here one opportunity because it would be three points and now we are six points. We are thinking this match on Wednesday and trying to cut this spell of bad results,” Emery continued.

Villa have an opportunity to make a rapid response midweek as they face Brentford under the lights at Villa Park. Although the Bees have scored the second most goals in the Premier League, much of their prolific form has been on home soil - with just one point collected on the road.

Villa, desperate to bring smiles back to supporters’ faces, will want to add to Brentford’s away woes.