The Rebound: Aston Villa can't be ruled out of title race and Newcastle United's Spurs claim is hypocritical

Aston Villa are going to win the Premier League, and there is nothing that you or I or Mikel Arteta, perched up in the terraces like a roosting raven, can do to stop it. On Saturday evening, through a combination of habit and our dear old friend VAR controversy, the Villans extended their unbeaten run at Villa Park to a dizzying 15 matches, and moved themselves to within two points of leaders Liverpool. It has been quite the transformation for a side who looked like tangible relegation fodder under Saudi Arabia's finest, Steven Gerrard.

In some respects, Saturday was a story of redemption, with Unai Emery, like a cross between The Ugly Duckling and John Wick, taking his vengeance on all those in north London who ever doubted him. Of course, it would be foolish and hasty to suggest with any earnestness that Villa are concrete title contenders at a stage of the campaign where most of us are still yet to finish our Christmas shopping, but after taking six points from Arsenal and defending champions Manchester City in less than a week, it is becoming increasingly difficult to refute their credentials.

For the first time in a long time, it feels as if we may have more than a two-horse title race on our hands, although the cynics and the realists would be quick to point out that Manchester City's comeback victory over Luton Town on Sunday afternoon boasted the foreboding sense of a side cracking their knuckles before winding up for the kind irresistible, sustained throttling of the division on which so much of their recent success has been built.

One man who may not have to endure the ordeal of waking suddenly in the middle of the night - screaming and doused in cold sweat - after yet another bad dream involving his strangled oesophagus and Pep Guardiola for much longer, however, is Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman watched his Manchester United side lose in pathetic fashion to Bournemouth at the weekend, and increasingly radiates the vibe of a man who could soon be punted towards the relative bliss of a multi-million pound severance package.

At this stage, you would be justified in assuming that this United squad might have run out of buses to throw managers under, and yet here we are, repeating the same tiresome discourse as another highly-fancied coach gets sucked into the same pattern of toxicity that has hamstrung every inhabitant of the Old Trafford dugout since Sir Alex Ferguson. Ten Hag is a wedding ring circling a drain, a Final Destination protagonist on Groundhog Day.

The Red Devils have now lost more Premier League home matches since Fergie retired than they did during the entirety of his 21 seasons in the division, and if ever there was a damning indictment of the rinse and repeat cycle of perpetual uselessness plaguing the club, perhaps it is that. As far as United are concerned, they take one step forward and then one right back again; they might not be getting any worse, but lord knows they're not getting any better either.

And finally, for the second time in a week, Newcastle United ended a damaging defeat with a very public display of just how rattled they were by an opposition goalkeeper. On Thursday, it was raving Mackem Jordan Pickford, and on Sunday it was lanky Italian Guglielmo Vicario who - checks notes - had the temerity to 'pull faces' at Toon striker Callum Wilson during the latter stages of Tottenham's commanding 4-1 win over the Magpies.

Now, granted, Vicario's tongue-poking antics probably were disrespectful in a schoolyard sort of way, but as with all things in this life, if you can't take it, don't dish it out. Wilson was quite happy to have a little nibble at Spurs forward Richarlison from behind a podcast mic earlier this season, and the Toon Army writ large were positively delirious when Jacob Murphy smugly waved Southampton defender Duje Ćaleta-Car off the pitch after he saw red during a match at St. Mary's way back in January. Honestly, what's the difference?

Either we get to a point where every team act with perfect etiquette towards each other all times, or, more realistically, we accept that occasionally, on a football pitch, there are going to be moments of heightened emotion that manifest in slightly cheeky outbursts - and that in those instances, we grow up, take it on the chin, and realise that it is part and parcel of competitive sport. These squabbles come around, and they go around. It's really not worth getting upset over.