Aston Villa’s resurgence under Unai Emery has fans at Villa Park dreaming of a spot in Europe.

The Villans reached the play-off stages of Europa League qualifying in 2009/10 and 2010/11, where they were beaten by Austrian side Rapid Wien on both occasions.

A brilliant unbeaten run has taken Villa up to sixth and with other clubs around them floundering, there’s a chance they could secure their best finish since coming sixth in three consecutive seasons from 2007/08 to 2009/10.

They do have a tough run-in, however, beginning with a trip to Old Trafford. There, they will hope to edge closer to a club record from their time in the Premier League.

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Fears of relegation are what led to Steven Gerrard’s sacking as Villa boss back in October. Emery has since helped the squad realise its potential after an initial bedding in period.

After losing three Premier League games on the trot in February to Leicester, Manchester City and Arsenal, the Villans have put together an unbeaten run of ten games in England’s top flight. In that time they’ve faced a number of bottom half strugglers such as Everton, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Leicester and Nottingham Forest.

They’ve faced higher quality opposition in their last three games, thumping Champions League chasers Newcastle 3-0 before drawing at Brentford.

2022/23 Premier League unbeaten run

The slender victory over Fulham took Villa’s unbeaten streak to ten games and there is a chance for Emery’s side to set a new club record before the season is done.

The Villa team of 1998 went 14 matches unbeaten across the 1997/98 and 1998/99 season, so should they come their final five games without losing, they’ll set a new club record for Premier League games unbeaten.

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Current Premier League table, top scorers & upcoming fixtures

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1998 Premier League unbeaten run

Villa were regulars in the UEFA Cup during the 1990s with stars like Gareth Southgate, Ugo Ehiogu, Dwight Yorke and Stan Collymore.

Their best Premier League finish of second came in 1992/93 but they dropped to tenth and 18th the following seasons before more regular top half placings.

They began their unbeaten run in 1998 by beating Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal before starting the new 1998/99 term with four wins from their first five league games. The arrivals of Dion Dublin and Paul Merson looked to have compensated Yorke’s exit to Manchester United and they spent much of the campaign at the top of the division.

Villa’s unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end on 21 November, when they were beaten 4-2 at home by Liverpool, with Robbie Fowler’s hat-trick accompanying Paul Ince’s second-minute opener.

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Aston Villa’s upcoming fixture list

Villa put their unbeaten streak on the line on Sunday when they travel to Manchester United hoping to close the gap on the Red Devils having played two games more.

Wolves were thumped at Brighton and are Villa’s next opponents after their trip to Old Trafford before subsequent clashes with Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton to round off the campaign.

If Villa were to maintain their loss-less streak, it would signify a remarkable turnaround from Emery after the botched Gerrard era and would almost certainly result in European football returning to Villa Park.

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On this edition of 90min’s Definitive European Power Rankings, part of the 90min podcast network, Sean Walsh and Jack Gallagher discuss the top 10 teams from across the continent after a busy week of football.

If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!