Aston Villa journalist Gregg Evans has been sharing his opinions on Villa’s hope for Premier League survival this season.
This comes after Evans recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Villa-themed podcast 1874 to reflect on their 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Tuesday.
On the topic of Villa’s chances of avoiding relegation this season and their upcoming match against West Ham United on the final day of the season, Evans shared his thoughts on Villa’s situation.
He said: “In my mind now, Villa are safe. They will go to West Ham and they will get the result they need.
“I think Villa will get at least a point which will keep them safe and clear of Bournemouth. There have been a lot of mistakes this season and they are the best of a very, very bad bunch of three teams that are fighting to stay up [on] the last day of the season. We can’t paper over the cracks that the one team that does survive out of Bournemouth, Watford and Villa have had a very poor season because at times, all three of them have been awful – and I know that that sounds bad, but they’ve found form right at the right time.
“Never rule out Dean Smith’s teams, because they always seem to pick up results when they need them the most. Dean Smith has never been sacked as a manager and there’s a reason why, because he always manages to get the job done in the end.”
After 37 games played in the Premier League this season, Villa have won nine, drawn seven and lost 21 of them (per BBC Sport).
Villa currently sit in 17th place in the league table on 34 points, just ahead of 18th-placed Watford on goal difference. However, in their three previous league matches, Villa have managed to pick up seven out of a possible nine points.
Are you confident Villa will avoid relegation this season?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
Despite Evans’ confidence for Villa to avoid relegation this season, the Villa players will be looking to get all three points against the Hammers at the weekend and hope that will be enough to keep their place in the top-flight for next season.