‘I don’t think Aston Villa can win the title – if you offered Unai Emery fourth place now, I think he’d take it’ Former strike ace tells FourFourTwo why Champions League spot must be the aim

Aston Villa go into this weekend’s home game with Everton sitting third in the Premier League, after a highly impressive season that’s even put them within touching distance of top spot.

Villa won 12 of 13 Premier League games between late September and late December, to make it a three-way tussle at the top with Arsenal and Manchester City.

A 4-1 loss at Arsenal and a draw at Crystal Palace mean that the Gunners are now six points clear, but Villa are still level on points with City, and eight ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool.

Collymore staying realistic when it comes to Aston Villa

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Despite their strong position, former Villa striker Stan Collymore – a lifelong fan of the club – does not consider the Midlanders to be part of the title race.

Villa narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot last term, but are currently 10 points inside the top four, and 11 points inside the top five.

The Premier League is in contention to get an extra Champions League spot next season, because of their clubs’ performances in Europe during the current campaign.

“As a fan and a pundit, I think Villa and Unai Emery will be looking at maintaining their top four place,” Collymore said. “If they said to Unai Emery now, ‘All things considered, you can take fourth by a point on the last day’, I think he’d take it.

“Of course in the meantime there’s half a season to play, so you go where you potentially can, but Villa are competing with teams with squads where you’ve got five or six senior internationals on the bench.

“Villa don’t have that, so I don’t think they can win the title. For me, they’ll be looking at Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs, rather than Arsenal at the moment.”

Midfield concerns

Villa have reportedly been chasing striker Tammy Abraham, seven years after a successful loan with the club, and Collymore believes they still need another central midfield option.

Conor Gallagher looked set to join the club, but later signed for Tottenham Hotspur instead.

“You saw with the Conor Gallagher move that because of PSR constraints, Villa couldn’t quite go the extra 10 or 15 million euros, and the extra two years they could give him on a deal,” Collymore admitted, speaking in association with BetWright betting.

“Boubacar Kamara is out injured and he’s been incredibly influential, while John McGinn and Youri Tielemans have been maxing out in games recently and have had their minutes managed.

“They’ve obviously been looking for another midfielder with Kamara injured, and even with Kamara fit and firing, another central midfielder is a must.

“The minutes and the intensity that Tielemans, Kamara and McGinn have gone through has been impressive, but I’ve noticed in two or three games recently – Tottenham away in the FA Cup in the second half, the first half against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – that they were flagging. Freshness is desperately needed.”