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Aston Villa edging closer to the rare record in English top flight

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Aston Villa is getting closer to a rare record in the English top division after their result last weekend. 

Aston Villa once again failed to pick up three points on the weekend. Their winless run continues and now stretches to five matches, despite finally being able to score and even take the lead first in their last outing against Sunderland. 

Such a disappointing outcome has begun to frustrate the boss, Unai Emery. He slammed his team for not performing with their team identity after the game yesterday.

“We are not playing like I want. We have to adapt some new players in the structure, and we will need time with them. Others know we want to control the game with the ball.

We have to recover our identity. I am not frustrated with the result but disappointed and frustrated about how we are playing. We are not feeling comfortable with our style. We have to try to recover our personality and confidence to play like we are training.”

Emery’s men finally snatched a narrow win over Bologna in the midweek. They need to carry on the confidence and improving ahead of the next game at home versus Fulham in the league. 

If they fail to win again in the next Premier League clash, The Lions are officially making the rare record in the English top flight, which involves two teams only so far. Strangely, they were both led by the former Three Lions boss when such a record was made. Here are those two clubs which had the longest winless record so far.

Ipswich Town 1970/71

Ipswich was the first team to suffer the longest winless streak. It was in the 1970/71 season under the tutelage of young Bobby Robson. It was his second season in charge. His team was unable to pick up a single win until the seventh game. 

In their first six matches, Ipswich only managed to secure two points out of 12. Back then each team only earned two points for every match they won. Frank Clarke and Co held Stoke City and Nottingham Forest in a goalless stalemate but slumped to a defeat in the clash against Coventry, Derby County, Southampton and Wolverhampton.

Sir Bobby Robson’s men eventually ended their negative trend by picking up a 3-0 win over Burnley. They did not finish strong in that season but enough to avoid relegation by sitting in 19th place.

The former England boss in the 1980s to 1990 FIFA World Cup stayed in Portman Road for 13 years and had been able to transform Ipswich into a European challenger in the following two seasons, plus delivered two pieces of silverware, the FA Cup 1978 and the UEFA Cup 1981. 

Crystal Palace 2017/18

The Eagles were the next one at their lowest ebb when Frank de Boer was at the helm of the team. They suffered four consecutive losses under the Dutch boss while taking on Huddersfield, Liverpool, Swansea and Burnley. The former defender was eventually sacked and replaced by the ex-England manager in EURO 2012 and 2016 plus the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Roy Hodgson.

Sadly, their misfortune did not stop in the following three fixtures as they were beaten by Southampton 1-0 and humbled by Manchester City and United in a heavy defeat. Crystal Palace were still goalless and had conceded 17 goals already. 

However, the table finally turned as Winfred Zaha returned from the injury in a home game versus Chelsea. Hodgson’s men snatched a 2-1 win over The Blues. Unlike Bobby Robson’s Ipswich, they were able to finish higher in 11th spot in the final standings. 

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