Aston Villa win again under Unai Emery and half of points have come since Gerrard left

By
published

Aston Villa won nine points in 11 matches under Steven Gerrard and have claimed the same amount in four games since he left

Danny Ings celebrates scoring for Aston Villa against Brighton as a flare is thrown onto the pitch.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Aston Villa's 2-1 win at Brighton on Sunday was a second successive Premier League victory for Unai Emery and means the Birmingham club have picked up as many points since Steven Gerrard left as they did in 11 matches under their former manager this season.

Villa followed up last weekend's impressive 3-1 win over Manchester United at Villa Park with a 2-1 success at the Amex as Emery's side came from behind to claim a first away win of the season thanks to two goals from Danny Ings.

Under Gerrard, Villa won only two of their 11 Premier League games this season (against Everton and Southampton), with three draws and six defeats in the former Liverpool and England midfielder's other fixtures in charge.

The last of those was a 3-0 loss at Fulham on October 20th, which left Villa above the bottom three on goal difference alone and hastened an end to Gerrard's tenure after less than a year.

Villa then beat Brentford 4-0 with first-team coach Aaron Danks in charge on an interim basis, before a heavy loss away to Newcastle by the same scoreline in their next match.

But Emery's two wins plus that victory over Brentford mean Villa have won as many points (nine) in just four fixtures as they had under Gerrard (in 11 games).

Heading into the break for the World Cup, Villa are now up to 12th in the table with 18 points from their 15 games.

Ben Hayward
Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.