Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, But Not Arsenal For Aston Villa

Aston Villa may have beaten Liverpool at Anfield, Chelsea at Villa Park, and Manchester United at Old Trafford, but after their showing at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday against Arsenal , they looked more a small-time club in the Midlands than possible Premier League title contenders.

In the first-half, Villa were the team that's in pole position for a place in next year's UEFA Champions League .

In the second-half, they were lacklustre individuals that didn't know what to do when they had possession of the ball.

They were ultimately undone by the Cesc Fabregas show. The Arsenal captain, who started on the bench due to a recent hamstring injury, came on for 21 minutes, scoring twice and paving the way for his side to claim an important win.

He had to go off after aggravating his hamstring problem, but by then the damage was done for Aston Villa.

They were 2-0 down, and had no hope of making a comeback. John Carew and Fabian Delph came on to try and emulate the impact Fabregas had for Arsenal, but it wasn't going to happen.

In the end, the Villa defence that has been superb all season again momentarily lost concentration, allowing Abou Diaby (who was brilliant for the Gunners throughout the match) to get in and bag himself a goal, and the home side's third of the game.

It was a positive opening half for the visitors, with Aston Villa creating some decent opportunities and looking like the team more likely to score.

They played as a team unit, and unlike their counterparts who were lacking a real leader on the pitch, were really efficient in possession of the ball.

Their defence was solid like it's been all season, and Gabriel Agbonlahor —assisted by key men Ashley Young , Stewart Downing and James Milner —proved to be a real threat to a lacksadaisical Arsenal back four.

However, come the second-half, it was the reverse.

Arsenal appeared to possess all the positive qualities Aston Villa had in the first-half, with any of the negatives.

And as for Aston Villa, they had all of the negatives and none of the positives!

Therefore, the match was Arsenal's for the taking. And aided by the 21 minute appearances of Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal took the match to the visitors, and subsequently emerged 3-0 victors.

It also must be mentioned, the away side weren't helped by the inconsistent performance of referee Phil Dowd, who albeit by chance, gave slightly more favourable decisions in the direction of Arsenal as opposed to Aston Villa.

In the end though, it was a poor performance by Aston Villa, who could not complete the set of beating top four opposition.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United may have succumbed to efficient power of the Villa machine, but Arsenal ultimately proved to be the stumbling block for this Aston Villa juggernaut which up to Sunday had been unbeaten in their last 17 matches.

Villa proved they're only realistically capable of a top-four finish; Arsenal proved this title race is definitely a three-horse race.