There can be no denying that Unai Emery is without a doubt one of the finest managers in Europe. Since he took over from Steven Gerrard’s ill-fated reign at Villa Park some 18 months ago, he has transformed the Villans from relegation candidates to the brink of UEFA Champions League qualification and Europa Conference League quarterfinalists. But if there is one team in England that doesn’t rate the Spanish tactician, it is Arsenal.
The four-time UEFA Europa League winner was in charge at the Emirates for a year-and-half following the reign of Arsene Wenger, and to say that it was a disaster would be an understatement. Despite reaching the Europa League final in his maiden campaign, Emery was ousted from his role in November 2019 with his side sitting down in eighth in the table.
16He was mocked by both the club’s fans and media outlets however, since his sacking, he has gone on to haunt his former employers on more than one occasion.
The most recent of those occasions came on April 14th as Aston Villa headed to the Emirates and torpedoed the hosts’ Premier League winner odds with a 2-0 victory. Heading into the contest the Gunners could have been the outright league leaders however, late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins secured all three points for the visitors and pushed Arsenal’s odds of lifting the title way out to 7/2, with Manchester City being the new short-priced 2/5 favourites.
For Villa, however, they are now the odds-on favourites to secure a spot in the top four. Their win in North London coupled with Spurs’ 4-0 drubbing at Newcastle has seen Premier League betting sites slash odds on them securing Champions League qualification for the first time down to just 4/9. But this stunning victory isn’t the first time that Emery has decimated his former club’s hopes of securing silverware.
Just watch the away end, again. ???? pic.twitter.com/kr4YCBdYv8
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 15, 2024
in the summer of 2020, the former Sevilla man was handed the reigns at Villareal, a club that had famously never lifted a major trophy of any kind. As the 2020/21 season neared its conclusion, the Yellow Submarine was still alive in the Europa League, as were the Gunners. Emery was considered a mastermind of the competition after famously leading the aforementioned Sevilla to victory for three straight years between 2014 and 2016.
With Villareal, the Spaniard was up to his old tricks again, topping the group before knocking out Red Bull Salzburg, Dynamo Kyiv and Dinamo Zagreb to secure their spot in the semifinals. There, they would meet Arsenal and Emery would deal his former employers a hammer blow for the first time, winning 2-1 on aggregate before defeating Manchester United in the final on penalties to claim the trophy for a fourth time.
The recent 2-0 victory at the Emirates shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Gunners have become known as perennial bottlers and their former manager is only too happy to inflict more pain on the supporters who once abused him on the regular. Admittedly, Arsenal defeated Emery’s Villa in three straight games following his appointment at Villa Park in October 2022. But this season, the 52-year-old has had his revenge.
Just three days removed from beating reigning champions Manchester City at home, the Villa welcomed Arsenal and Emery would get his first league win against them thanks to a seventh-minute goal from John McGinn. The 2-0 victory on Sunday means that Aston Villa have taken six points off the Gunners this season and contributed to two of their five losses. Should they end up not winning the title, then it will be Emery who will be the one responsible.
