This season, the English premier league has served as a reminder to anyone who had any doubts about its caliber as the best league on the planet.
As the campaign draws closer to its halfway point, viewers have been treated to a plethora of nail-biting thrillers and dramatic stand-outs. Many predicted that Manchester City, fresh off their record triple from the previous season, would easily win the championship for a fourth time.
However, they are currently in fourth place, with Arsenal and Liverpool posing a real challenge to their hegemony in England. After defeating Chelsea, Tottenham, City, and Arsenal this season, Villa is also a contender at the top of the standings.
In stark contrast, Chelsea, who have already spent almost £1 billion in the first year under their new ownership, is ranked in the bottom half, demonstrating the intense competitiveness.It’s difficult to narrow down this season’s outstanding games, but talkSPORT anchor and former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has done just that.The 37-year-old lists his top five matches going into 2024 in an interview with talkSPORT…
5. Aston Villa – September 30, 6-1 Brighton
“I remember watching this game and Brighton started well early on, and then Villa were clinical, they were getting through Brighton with ease.”Brighton, in my opinion, was among the first clubs to realize that Villa could field guys forward and that anyone could do so, including both full-backs and defensive midfielders.”And everyone was getting on the scoring sheet as Aston Villa put them to the sword; the final score might have been 8 or 9-1.”
4. Luton – December 5, 3–4 Arsenal
“Watching this game, even friends of mine on Fantasy Football had three Arsenal defenders in because they were confident that Luton wouldn’t score against Arsenal.”And they gave up three goals. Luton posed a threat, particularly when they attacked Arsenal off set pieces.”And they showed at Kenilworth Road, it’s going to be a bit of a fortress, it’s not going to be easy, no one is going there and winning 6 or 7-0.”
3. Chelsea 4–4. Man City – 12 November
“I look at this game, and watching it, I was so happy to see someone say, ‘We’re not sitting back against Man City, we’re at home, let’s go!'”Although Man City is a fantastic team, these elite teams occasionally have to contend with them.
“They were conceding goals, [Raheem] Sterling was frightening, [Cole] Palmer done well, [Nicolas] Jackson did well, [Armando] Broja come on and got the penalty.”You want to see both sides competing and [Erling] Haaland scoring goals.
“You want to see teams having a go against Man City, not Man City walking the league and beating everyone comfortably.”One other positive aspect of it is that the Premier League is too competitive for a side to ever again host an undefeated squad.As you’ve already seen this season, anybody can lose, so that game marked the beginning for me in terms of looking at teams and realizing, “You know what? Okay, [Mauricio] Pochettino, I get what you’re doing.
2. Tottenham 1–4. November 6, Chelsea
In thirty years, this will be examined; students will look at it and comment, ‘You know, back when the Spurs had nine players and they still played a high line.'”
“‘And Chelsea players were lining up like they were doing 100m and just ready to run in behind from the halfway line and stay onside?'”It was absurd. I adore Ange [Postecoglou] and his work, but when you lose two men, your style has to adapt!”You sit back, you have no strikers, three in midfield, four at the back, one in the hole, you don’t just go and play the same tactics.”
1. December 6th, Aston Villa 1-0 Man City
“The reason why, it’s not about goals and how many goals were scored, this was the first time that Pep Guardiola in his 535 matches as a manager, has had some team have 22 shots against him.”And it’s the first time that Guardiola’s team has only had two shots in his managerial career.”Even worse, they had their final opportunity in the eleventh minute. When [Emiliano] Martinez made two saves, it was their only opportunity to score.
“Even if you didn’t watch the game, you’re going to exclaim, ‘Wow!’ when you look at Aston Villa’s stats against Man City. It had to have been biased.”I couldn’t believe it myself, but it was one of the most unfair games I’ve ever watched at Villa Park!
“I was thinking that, ‘Haaland is going to score, he always scores, we’ve been the better team, they’re going to score’ – no!”The bravest team play I’ve ever witnessed was from Aston Villa; they were on them. The energy at Villa Park was palpable.”