This is why the EPL league is so interesting to follow. Newcastle's phenomenal last season, Aston Villa's phenomenal season, two historic clubs. I also think with you, Aston Villa in my opinion securing the top four seems more realistic than becoming champion because it is very difficult, Liverpool and Man City are teams that have a strong mentality and can be consistent. Moreover, Man City, with the return of their star KDB, will certainly find it difficult to compete with them, even though in the previous match Aston Villa managed to beat Man City, but in my opinion, in the second match they will not be able to beat Man City a second time.
Aston Villa's next match is against Everton, this match can be said to be an even match but I am sure Aston Villa will not waste the opportunity to continue collecting three points in every match so that their position remains safe in second place in the EPL league. Even though this match will be played at Everton's home ground, I think Aston Villa will win this match.
Yes, I think Aston Villa don't have a winning mentality because their consistency is sometimes still unstable, the same goes for Arsenal who sometime play well but toward the end they also decline, and it seems like the strongest candidates to win the title this season seem to be only Liverpool and Manchester City. But this can still changes if that clubs cannot maintain its consistency, Manchester City will certainly be more confident because their important player have returned and of course this will be a big advantage for Manchester City to returned to fighting for the top position which is currently occupied by Liverpool.
If you looks at the statistical data of their meetings in the last few match, Aston Villa dominated the victory over Everton. In the away match Aston Villa can still beat Everton. So I think even though this is an away match, it is not a bigs problem for Aston Villa because they are quite strong this season to be able to wins every game.
The fact that they have it is the interesting part, like "how" do they have that? It doesn't really feel like they should, it's a weird feeling that they are having something like this, I feel like they are having a wonderful season, and Emery is a wonderful manager who has proven himself to be one of the best in this period, he is taking a team that is 8th in valuation to a place where they are second, and actually no joke they do have a chance to win the title.
I am not saying they will, but they do have that chance, and even the fact hat they "might" after the whole first half is over, is just a wonderful place to be for them, they shouldn't even be remotely anywhere close here, and that is why I think it's a great thing for them.