Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher has said Aston Villa could repeat Newcastle’s achievement from last season by finishing in the Premier League top four.
Carragher was speaking after Villa hammered West Ham 4-1 on Sunday.
Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey all scored for Unai Emery’s men as they claimed an 11th home win in a row.
Villa have now moved up to fifth in the table after nine games, just two points behind leaders Manchester City.
It has led to talk that they could finish in the top four, ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.
“You go back to last season and you think about what Newcastle did in terms of qualifying for the Champions League. And they were written off throughout the season, “they won’t get there”. But eventually they did.
“It will be tough for Aston Villa. The only problem they’ve got in terms of getting into the Champions League that will be different to Newcastle last season is they’ve got European football.
“I think they’ll go far in that competition [Europa Conference League] because of the manager’s record in Europe, so there will be a lot of Thursday-Sunday [fixtures] after Christmas. That might be the only problem they have,” Carragher told Sky Sports
