Pep Guardiola delivers verdict on Aston Villa title chances ahead of Villa Park clash

Pep Guardiola has delivered his verdict on Aston Villa’s Premier League title chances ahead of his side’s visit to Villa Park Wednesday evening.

Unai Emery’s men have started the 2023/24 campaign on fire, winning nine of their first 14 Premier League games, which has them sitting one point behind Manchester City, and seven points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Villa are joined by Liverpool in putting pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City at the summit of the Premier League, after the pair went head to head for the title in the 2022/23 season.

And speaking ahead of City’s Premier League showdown with Villa on Wednesday evening, City boss Pep Guardiola did not shy away from labeling Unai Emery’s men as true title contenders.

“So far, what they (Aston Villa) have shown, yes,” he said. “They are playing in European competition, it’s not like Tottenham or Chelsea (who play) one game a week.

“They are playing in European competition, Conference League, I guess. And they are there (challenging).

“It’s already 15 games, it’s still a lot of (points), 72 points still to play, a lot of games to play but of course, if so far they are there, they CAN be there!

“And I think in knock-out stages of competitions, (Unai) Emery is used to play every three days, because he has been in Sevilla, Valencia in that time, PSG, Arsenal – they play every three days.

“They know how to handle the training sessions, the mindset of the players. That’s why they can do it, of course they can be there.”

A win for Aston Villa Wednesday evening would see the Birmingham outfit leapfrog Manchester City in the Premier League standings. Furthermore, it would be a fourth straight league game without a win for Pep Guardiola’s side.

After their trip to Villa Park, City will travel to Luton Town on Sunday for more domestic proceedings.