Vibrant Villa vault vaunted Manchester City ahead of visit versus Arsenal in vital title tussle

It would be glass half-full to ask what's wrong with Manchester City, so instead, let's ask what's right at Aston Villa? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Amidst a sea of flirters who look good for a while then fade, the Brighton, West Ham and Brentford brigade (in past seasons you'd put Leicester in this category before they got relegated), Villa are showing staying power. Last weekend's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth may have been seen as a slight disappointment (though Bournemouth have only lost once in their last six), but Villa have moulded themselves in the image of manager Unai Emery and City are just the latest ones to realize they have enough quality to play at the top of the table for a while.