Unai Emery may be on borrowed time at Aston Villa after Graham Potter sack news
The Premier League season has already seen two managerial sackings in its infancy, and more could be set to follow with Aston Villa’s Unai Emery another under pressure.
West Ham parted ways with Graham Potter on Saturday, with Nuno Espirito Santo named as his replacement just hours after.
The new manager of the Hammers was the first to be sacked this season, after falling out with the higher-ups at Nottingham Forest.
Unai Emery is under pressure at Villa, with his team currently sitting 18th in the Premier League.
After winning on Thursday, Villa will play Fulham on Sunday in the hopes of winning their first league game of the season.
Aston Villa matching terrible West Ham form
There will not be many West Ham fans arguing with the dismissal of Potter. The Englishman has overseen a terrible start to the season, and there was little promise of any turnaround.
The Hammers have scored just five goals and conceded 13, a league-high this season.
Many of Potter’s problems came in the defensive part of the pitch, but the attacking numbers were not at all pretty either.
West Ham have registered just five expected goals (xG), and are among the league’s lowest creators of big chances and touches in the opposition box.
The problem for Villa is that in many of the stats Potter’s side were performing so badly in, Emery’s men are performing even worse.
| Aston Villa | Premier League 2025/26 |
| Shots | 52 |
| Shots on target | 12 |
| Conversion rate | 1.92% |
| xG per shot | 0.07 |
| xG from set pieces | 0.93 |
Villa have registered just 3.9 xG in the Premier League this season – the lowest of any team.
And whilst Emi Martinez and Marco Bizot have had to pick the ball out of their net on just five occasions this season, Villa’s opponents have actually registered 8.4 expected goals against them – roughly 0.6 more than against West Ham.
And it gets worse. Emery’s team have enjoyed more touches in the opposition box than the Irons this season, but once there, there is very little to show for it.
Villa have created just six big chances in the Premier League last season, one less than West Ham, and three more than Wolves’ three – the league’s lowest.
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Unai Emery surviving on good favour
With Potter sacked despite his team having won the same amount of points as Emery’s, and arguably having outperformed them in some aspects, one could wonder why the Spaniard still has his job.
But the difference between the two managers has nothing to do with this season.
Emery is surviving off the back of two hugely impressive seasons in charge of Villa, something Potter did not have at West Ham.
But that backing will not last forever. Results must improve imminently for the former Arsenal boss, or he will soon receive the same treatment.
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