Paul Merson in awe of ‘Incredible’ Aston Villa after what he’s seen this season
Aston Villa have been inconsistent this season but have still managed to impress Paul Merson.
The Villans have been up and down all campaign which sees them sitting ninth in the Premier League despite finishing fourth last year.
This has seen positive performances against Manchester City and even Liverpool be cancelled out by frustrating defeats.
The recent draw to Ipswich Town added insult to injury after falling to a 2-0 loss to Wolves, summing up Villa’s season.
Paul Merson impressed with Aston Villa Champions League form
It is safe to say that these issues have really begun to grate on Unai Emery who has become visibly agitated in post-match press conferences.
This wasn’t necessarily the case against Liverpool where his side gave as good as they got despite their second goal of the night coming after a dubious John McGinn handball.
Ultimately, the Villans only secured a point and will be hoping to go one better against Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday (22 February).
Despite these varying inconsistencies, ex-Villa Park ace Merson has spoken highly of his former club with one element of their campaign catching his eye.
Speaking to Sportskeeda (21 February), he said: “Villa should have a real go in the Champions League. The atmosphere at Villa Park during these European games has been incredible and they must keep it up in the knockout stages.
“If they do that, they have a chance at progressing further.”
Aston Villa continue to shine in the Champions League
There is no doubt that the shining light of the campaign in B6 has been the Champions League, going unbeaten at home in Europe’s elite competition.
This kicked off with a historic and memorable win against Bayern Munich thanks to a late Jhon Duran lob over Manuel Neuer.
The league phase ended with Villa in the top eight after securing a 4-2 win against Celtic with Morgan Rogers netting a hattrick.
These two moments have contributed to what has been an excellent string of games which has culminated in a round of 16 clash against Club Brugge.
As Merson has pointed out, the Villans will be keen to get as far as possible in the Champions League and keep Villa Park as electric as it has been in Europe.
Supporters will hope for a better result against Brugge after losing earlier in the campaign after a bizarre Tyrone Mings handball in Belgium.