Arsenal "don't scare" Aston Villa as secret weapon emerges after Unai Emery crisis talks

Bailey collected his eighth of the season with a deflected shot against Manchester City in Villa’s eye-catching 1-0 victory. But his overall display was his best in a claret shirt as his running with the ball caused Guardiola’s rearguard all sorts of problems.

Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery will meet again on the touchline this weekend

Bailey, who joined Villa from Bayer Leverkusen for £25m two-and-a-half years ago, has often been criticised for drifting in and out of games. Certainly neither Dean Smith, nor Steven Gerrard approached anything like the return seen under Emery.

Villa’s boss said: “When I arrived at the club, I began collecting information off the players. Then, when I understood them and got to know them better, I started to take individual meetings with some.

"One of them was Leon Bailey. His potential is amazing. But sometimes at home we were looking at him, thinking: ‘Wow, what a player.’ And then away, it was completely different.

‌"He has been humble enough to listen and to understand that we knew how he could improve - and he’s accepted that. Last Sunday, he scored his first goal away for Villa in the Premier League at Bournemouth.

"This is one example. He needed to improve his consistency away from home. He is consistent at home. Why is it different? That was the process we had to understand. He’s progressing. He’s getting better because he’s aware he has to do it. Now I think his performances are very good at home and much better away.

Leon Bailey was the star as Villa overcame Manchester City on Wednesday 

“It’s still important to demand improvement from him in every game - but what I think is better than it was last year is his commitment.” Villa can move to within one point of leaders Arsenal if they break a club record for a number of successive league victories to 15 by beating the Gunners on Saturday.

The statistics are stacking up in favour of Emery and his side. Since being beaten by Mikel Arteta ’s side in February, they have scored 37 goals, conceded just seven and collected 42 points at Fortress Villa Park.

Despite the rapid rise through the Premier League ranks, however, Emery is taking nothing for granted. He said: “There are seven teams who are bigger contenders than us. We’re happy to be in third but to stay there is very, very difficult.

"We are still only at matchday 15 and there are still a lot of matches to play. Maybe we can be contenders. But not now, we need more time. We can believe but we are not going to. It’s matchday 15. Maybe that could change at matchday 30 or 32 - but not yet.”