Is this the greatest Aston Villa club of the century?

Currently standing third in the table and going into Saturday’s match 2 points ahead of their opponent Chelsea, Villa are playing some of their best football in years. This weekend’s game will prove the true barometer of where the Villans stand and where they will likely finish this season. Having only lost one time in their last 17, Martin O’Neill’s boys are vying for a top spot in Europe next year. Could the Champions League be a possibility?

If Aston Villa holds on…

With January fast approaching, transfer rumors are beginning to run rampant. The latest rumor is that Real Madrid are interested in signing the new David Beckham. Yes, that means you, Ashley Young.

I can’t help but wonder - is Ashley Young really that good? He’s proved himself consistently this season, and there’s no denying his pace and raw ability. However, Young is largely an unproven player on a larger scale. With only four caps to his name, none of us have seen Young in a major tournament. The closest he has gotten to…

Since the 2004/05 season when Everton finished fourth, the Big Four have had a stranglehold on the four Champions League spots. This year, though, Martin O’Neill’s talented Aston Villa side are proving to all of England that they have what it takes to assert themselves in the top four. With just under half the season gone the only question that remains is whether or not Villa have what it takes to sustain this challenge.

It is refreshing for fans around the league and around the country to see a side that is…

With eight weeks gone in the 2008/09 Premier League season, it appears that the table is starting to show its true shape. The Big Four - Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool - are all hitting their strides as they start stringing together consecutive wins.

At United the trio of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Dimitar Berbatov are firing on all cylinders as United’s goal tally accumulates. At Chelsea, injuries are being covered up by the good form of players like Salomon Kalou who has done brilliantly coming off the bench and…

With one month of Premiership action out of the way, Premiership Talk reviews all twenty teams and grades them based on their early season performances.

Arsenal

The title hopefuls from London have had an indifferent start to the season. An opening day narrow victory against West Bromwich Albion didn’t convince too many fans, and that performance was followed up with an extremely disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham. Arsenal clearly aren’t firing on all cylinders yet, but Samir Nasri already looks like he’ll be a good signing for the club. I…

Each year the English Premier League casts many surprises. Whether it’s a surprise team (think back to Wigan in their first season in the Premiership), a surprise player, or a surprise manager (hello, Mr. Mourinho), there are always twists and turns to each season’s story. Already this season has seen a few twists, especially when it comes to the following five players and their early season triumphs.

Dean Ashton

Dean Ashton certainly isn’t an unknown quantity, but few could’ve expected the form we’ve seen from him in preseason and in the first match…