Aston Villa: How Unai Emery’s side rose from the bottom three to get back into the Champions League race | soccer news

After a dismal start to the season, Aston Villa are back on top and firmly in contention for Champions League football.

The start to the 2025/26 campaign has been grim. Villa stumbled out of the gate after a controversial 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford on the final day of last season left them reeling from the disappointment of missing out on Europe’s elite competition.

They failed to score a goal all through August and when they finally did, their traveling fans had little to celebrate as they returned from London after losing on penalties to Brentford in the Carabao Cup.

They were handed an unconvincing first win against Bologna in the Europa League, but since then Unai Emery’s side have slowly put things back together. Although we are a bit off previous levels, progress is being made.

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In the race for the bottom three, Villa sit one point off the top four, ahead of Liverpool and Manchester United.

They face Liz, survive Super SundayIn the next match and ahead of the meeting sky sports We look at the factors that have contributed to this resurgence.

Buendia is back!

Step out of the shadows and into the limelight. Buendia’s time in his second city was turned upside down after securing a loan move to Bayer Leverkusen in January, but after featuring in pre-season, Villa’s pocket rocket has found his way back into Emery’s plans and is now a key cog in the system.

He scored October’s Goal of the Month to beat Tottenham and won back-to-back top scorers with a free-kick against Bournemouth. Not only does Buendia have a role to play, it is now clear that Emery is a player they can rely on to make a difference.

The Argentine playmaker, who recently returned to the national team during the international break, has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances, averaging one goal every 39 minutes despite making just two starts.

The result leaves Villa now with nine points, the gap between them in sixth and 19th place.

Building Bridges with Martinez

Buendia’s role in compatriot Emiliano Martinez’s resurgence has been one of building bridges after a tumultuous summer.

Sky Sports News Martínez had hoped to join Manchester United in August and was left out of the squad for the day’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on the eve of deadline day, but reported that a move did not materialize.

The 33-year-old has since worked his way back into the starting line-up, but there was still work to be done after being stripped of his vice-captaincy by Emery and his relationship with the fan base weakening.

A trademark penalty save against Bournemouth to keep his fourth clean sheet of the season, including a 1-0 win over Manchester City, certainly helped.

Martinez has made a total of 17 saves in Villa’s league wins and draws this season.

Although he is a far cry from the cult hero status he previously had at the club, having a goalkeeper with Martinez’s level of concentration has been key to Villa’s rise up the table.

Cathy’s Class – At Both Ends of the Playing Field

The clean sheets and solid defense are clearly the result of a joint effort. But one of the back four has exceeded all expectations this season.

Goals against Sunderland and Manchester City will get plenty of praise, as will Buendia’s sublime pass for the goal against Spurs, but Matty Cash’s defensive contribution cannot go unnoticed.

The right-back has stepped up when needed and has now signed a new contract until 2029 to reflect his importance to the squad.

Cash leads the team in tackles, blocks and interceptions and is second behind Ezri Konsa in clearances. This helped him convince Emery of his worth, and he started all but two of Villa’s games in all competitions.

Cash, or ‘Polish Cafu’ as fans like to call him, is now one of the names, if not the name, on the team sheet.

Emery’s remaining puzzle pieces

The 2-0 loss to struggling Liverpool at Anfield was a stark reminder that Villa still have work to do.

Despite a 4-0 thrashing of Bournemouth before the international break and a performance reminiscent of seasons past, Villa are still struggling in attack.

They rank in the bottom three of the Premier League for big chances created (10) and expected goals (xG). Leeds have almost doubled the former figure (18), but it is the latter statistic that concerns Emery the most.

Villa have scored a total of 13 goals at an xG of just 9.4. Cash’s long-range strikes and Buendia’s free-kicks at the Stadium of Light are easy to watch but difficult to replicate on a consistent basis.

A fumbling supply line left Ollie Watkins in trouble.

Watkins, who is managing an injury and was recently left out of the England squad, has scored just one goal in 11 games.

However, Watkins only had four shots on target and his xG was as poor as 1.3, suggesting a lack of opportunities rather than missed opportunities.

Landing the 29-year-old, who has reached double figures in each of his previous seasons in the Premier League, could be the final piece of the puzzle.

Confidence is coming to Villa. The win against Cherry showed this. The chances and goals of Watkins and other players in the squad such as Doneil Malen and Morgan Rodgers should follow suit.

Watch Leeds vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday from 12.30pm. Kickoff at 2pm.