Since becoming Villa manager in October last year, Unai Emery has transformed the club, taking his side from 18th place into a potential title challenge this season.
Villa supporters are quietly whispering about capturing their first English league title since 1981, but how high would the Villans becoming champions rank among other teams who remarkably exceeded their pre-season expectations?
Here are five instances of teams who massively overperformed by the end of a Premier League season.
Norwich – 92/93
Norwich in August 1992, were heavy favourites to drop into the second tier once the Premier League’s inaugural season began. Yet, the Canaries duly ripped up the season’s script after a shock 4-2 comeback win away at Arsenal on the opening day.
What then ensued was a thrilling season for Norwich, who played expansive attacking football whilst fighting for the league title alongside Manchester United and Aston Villa. Even as late as April, they were still top of the league, having been there for most of the campaign.
Ultimately, the Canaries still managed an incredible third-placed finish, earning them qualification into European competition for the first time. This becomes even more extraordinary when considering they did so with a negative goal difference of -4.
Ipswich – 00/01
Embed from Getty ImagesEight years later, across East Anglia, it was the turn of Norwich’s rivals Ipswich to emphatically defy pre-season Premier League predictions. After their promotion via the playoffs the season before, the Tractor Boys were deemed as prime relegation candidates. Indeed, with one win from their first five league games, nothing unusual seemed to be on the cards at Portman Road.
In time, Ipswich found themselves within a pulsating contest for Champions League qualification with Liverpool and Leeds, and by late April, they were still as high as third. In the end, they finished fifth and secured UEFA Cup qualification, whilst manager George Burley received the Premier League Manager of the Year award for his side’s excellent season.
Everton – 04/05
Embed from Getty ImagesEverton appeared to be in dire straits heading into the 2004/05 Premier League season. With a lowly 17th placed finish the season before, Blues’ fans were fearing the worst once star striker Wayne Rooney was sold to Manchester United for £27 million.
Yet, David Moyes led the club into a surprise pursuit of Champions League qualification, after a formidable start to the season saw the Toffees in third place by Christmas. And despite ten losses from their final 19 league games, Everton still managed to pip their city rivals Liverpool to fourth place.
This also meant David Moyes received the Premier League Manager of the Year, ahead of then-Chelsea boss José Mourinho, who had won the Premier League title with a record-breaking 95 points.
Leicester – 15/16
Embed from Getty ImagesIf Unai Emery truly needed to convince his Villa players they could clinch an unexpected Premier League title win, the Spaniard could do worse than looking across the Midlands to Leicester’s iconic triumph in 2016.
However, when the Foxes replaced manager Nigel Pearson with Claudio Ranieri, the entire footballing world deemed them as the certain favourites to be relegated. ‘Claudio Ranieri? Really?’ was Gary Lineker’s notorious tweet, which perfectly set the backdrop for Leicester’s extraordinary season.
The pre-season odds on a miraculous Leicester Premier League title win? 5000/1. The prospect of this happening seemed comical. Soon though, the laughter stopped as Ranieri’s men embarked on their season, and shocked the world to become English league champions for the first time.
Huddersfield – 17/18
Embed from Getty ImagesSometimes, just avoiding relegation in the Premier League is a substantial achievement in itself. And Huddersfield would have had plenty of goodwill from neutral observers upon their shock promotion to the Premier League in 2017.
Even so, their resources for top-flight survival were significantly outmatched by the division’s other clubs. And by the time the Terriers reached their final three league games, they needed positive results against Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal to clinch survival. Their chances of a second successive Premier League season seemed rather bleak.
However, Huddersfield’s remarkable fighting spirit during that campaign was rewarded when they achieved Premier League safety with a game to spare after a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at Chelsea. This also set the stage for some memorable celebrations from both travelling supporters and the players in the aftermath at Stamford Bridge.
