Newcastle United battered Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, but it was Aston Villa who created the biggest Premier League story this weekend.
While the Magpies recorded an emphatic victory over Spurs to move into the top six on Saturday, Sunday was all about the title race.
It now looks like the Premier League title will once again belong to Manchester City, with both Liverpool and Arsenal falling to defeats.
The latter were beaten by Aston Villa, as Unai Emery did the double over his former club to deliver a hammer blow to their title aspirations. All the while, it puts Aston Villa in pole position to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
They are fourth again, jumping above Tottenham Hotspur and into a position that will definitely result in Champions League qualification. Fifth could potentially provide that as well, but that is currently unclear after the English clubs struggled in the recent recent European fixtures.
Villa are aiming to do what Newcastle United did last season and finish in the top four, but Emery is still looking over his shoulder with five games to go – and he is even looking as far back as the Magpies.
Unai Emery makes Newcastle claim after massive Aston Villa win
Following Aston Villa’s 2-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, Emery spoke to BBC Sport’s 606 Football Phone In.
“We are at 33 [games] and now we can feel contenders to be in the top five,” he said.
“We have been fighting with Tottenham but still Man United and Newcastle, I think both teams will and can get points. So we have to be very demanding of ourselves.”
No way Newcastle are going to catch Aston Villa
Emery is looking over his shoulder, but is probably looking further back than he needs to. While it is very respectful of him to acknowledge Newcastle’s position, there is no way that Eddie Howe‘s side are going to close that gap.
As it stands, Newcastle are 13 points behind Aston Villa – with a game in hand. The Magpies have six games remaining, while Villa have five. To catch Emery’s side, we would need them to drop points in at least four of their remaining games.
That seems incredibly unlikely, especially when you consider how good they were on Sunday. It was a perfect away performance, as late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins gave Aston Villa a vital and unlikely three points.
They have now done the double over Arsenal, which is something Newcastle did over Villa. When you consider that, it is no surprise that Emery has his eye on the Magpies. He knows how good Eddie Howe’s side is, having lost to them twice this season.
Newcastle might be able to catch Tottenham
While Aston Villa are surely too far away, Tottenham are not completely out of sight. They are 10 points ahead of us, and have played the same number of games.
If Saturday proves to be a momentum-shifter, there is an outside chance that Newcastle can close the gap on Spurs and finish in the top five.
That is certainly a possibility for Dan Burn, who has spoke to iNews about catching Tottenham.
“Of course we think we can catch Spurs,” he said.
“We spoke about it before the game that they were 13 points ahead of us, but they have a tough run-in and if we could lay down a marker and beat them, then they will always be looking over their shoulder.”
When you compare our remaining fixtures, catching Tottenham and replacing them in fifth is certainly not out of the question.
And with Newcastle playing twice before Spurs kick another ball, Howe’s side have a real chance to close the gap to four points and put them under some real pressure.
While Emery is looking over his shoulder nervously at Newcastle, it is Ange Postecoglou who should be most worried about the Magpies.
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