‘Twas the night before Christmas and Aston Villa were top of the Premier League. As far as make-believe tales go, this one might have been up there as one of winter’s more improbable scenarios back in August, but victory on Friday night at home to Sheffield United and top of the tree will be Unai Emery’s side – and there they would stay for the festivities if Liverpool and Arsenal were to draw the following day.
Even if Villa don’t top the table on 25 December, their campaign has thus far been nothing short of magical all the same. On home soil, they are the best. Only Newcastle can match the 24 points earned in home league games this season, but the Magpies have played a game more and lost one of them. The Villans have a 100 per cent record at Villa Park; nobody else in the Premier League can boast the same any longer after Liverpool were held last week.
