Striker urges team to “keep pushing and keep believing” ahead of run-in
Manchester City are not the only ones who believe they can pip Arsenal to the league title by May. Aston Villa drew on Saturday with Leeds United but Unai Emery’s side are still just seven points behind the Gunners with 11 games to go and 33 points still in contention.
An opening goal from Anton Stach after the half hour kept Leeds in control at Villa Park, but Tammy Abraham hit back late on to earn an important point.
“Watching Leeds with their past few results they have been grabbing draws and making games tough for opponents,” Abraham said in defence of his team. “So we knew what to expect and we are happy that we didn’t end up losing the game and we just have to keep going and keep believing in ourselves.
“When I first arrived I spoke with a few of the boys and watching from afar you can see that the team has a lot of qualities. We’re delighted to be where we are today but we are so close, so we have to just keep pushing and keep believing in ourselves.
But seven points behind Arsenal and six behind Chelsea and Manchester United (who have a game in hand), Villa are placed right in the middle. So which way will they go, and is there any chance whatsoever of them bridging that seven-point gap to the top?
“Who knows what can happen?” goal-hero Abraham said. “We are not too far from Arsenal who are at the top. Unfortunately today we didn’t get the win but we just have to keep pushing.”
But surely even the most optimistic of Villa fans would agree that the best thing for the team would be to focus on keeping as far away as possible from the chasing pack on their tail. United, Chelsea and Liverpool are all interested in the Champions League spots, and Villa are occupying one of them.
On Saturday they were nearly defeated at home by a side 15th in the league, which still serves to highlight how tenuous their position is – although Villa boss Emery said the point against Leeds was “good” rather than disappointing.
“This match is very difficult and this is the consistency we must keep,” said Emery. “Leeds deserved to draw. We created chances in the second half but they had chances to score.”
