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This surely should not continue. The logic defies rational sense that it persists. Yet, persist it does.

A Record-Chasing Triumph Against the Odds

Aston Villa entered the weekend's Premier League clash at Chelsea aiming for a historic record of 11 consecutive wins, matching runs set in the distant past. For the opening hour, this feat seemed improbable, as Chelsea dominated proceedings, took the lead, and might have added several more. However, Chelsea are vulnerability with a lead, especially at home, while Villa have cultivated a baffling knack of snatching wins on the road from losing positions.

First, the striker equalised, the ball ricocheting in off his leg and the post after his initial shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. Subsequently, he secured the decisive goal with a deft header. This marked just his fourth and fifth league goals of the campaign. Watkins might believe a bit of luck was due, and there's no question the equalizing goal involved a significant element of good fortune. Currently, though, fortune seems to be favoring Villa.

The Numbers Behind an Implausible Streak

Nine of these eleven straight wins have been by a single goal. They have kept a clean sheet in just one of those games. Their underlying metrics have been superior in just six of those encounters, and in a couple of those, the margin was minimal. Their last five road Premier League victories have all come from behind. This formula seems unsustainable, yet observers have been saying that for weeks, and Villa continue winning. The key question is whether their outcomes will finally align with their performances or if their performances can rise to justify the results.

This should not be sustainable, but everybody's been stating that for weeks and Villa keep on winning.

A Core Characteristic: Belief

Fighting back is not just a trait of the current campaign. Over the past 3 seasons, no side has won more points from losing positions than Villa's fifty-four; Eighteen of those were secured this term, fifty percent more than the second-placed team, Sunderland. This season, Villa substitutes have contributed nine goals. Two important points can be made about Villa under Unai Emery.

• First, they possess a profound confidence that means no game ever feels beyond them. This is, in part, self-perpetuating: the more they achieve comebacks, the more they believe they can do it once more.
• Secondly, Emery has proven exceptionally skilled at changing games through his substitutions.

A Masterful Change

While Chelsea won the xG battle 2.1 to 1.4, Villa became the dominant force from the moment, around the hour mark, when Emery made a triple change. Ollie Watkins came on for Malen, who had found it difficult with limited service. Suddenly, the ball was held up better, and Watkins's runs in behind created issues. Amadou Onana and Sancho also entered, strengthening the center and providing the flank presence they had lacked earlier.

Chelsea had 10 shots to Villa's zero before the changes; afterwards, Villa had 11 chances to Chelsea's 4. By the end, Villa were commanding and could have won more comfortably. Not for the first time, Chelsea boss Maresca seemed unable to respond as the game turned against him; the sense remains that he is better at devising a tactical plan with time to prepare than adapting in the moment.

Individual Brilliance

Villa have also developed a welcome habit of players producing pieces of sensational quality to turn games. Rogers has been decisive at Leeds, West Ham, and against Manchester United. The sight of him working the ball onto his right foot and curling a finish into the top corner has become a seasonal leitmotif. It was the winger who changed the game after coming on at Leeds. Watkins swung the game at Stamford Bridge. The performances of players such as Konsa and Lindelof on Saturday were also vital. Right now, it's not always the entire team playing brilliantly, but enough individuals within it stepping up to earn the victories.

The Road Ahead

Will they be able to keep going? They now sit three points behind Arsenal, and as the season approaches its halfway stage, they have to be viewed as in the championship conversation, arguably more so than club world champions Chelsea or reigning title holders Liverpool. Tuesday's away fixture at Arsenal will be a major test of that claim. Villa beat Arsenal on the first weekend of December, a match in which they not only won the xG but registered an xG forty percent higher than any other side has achieved against Arsenal in the league this season.

Arsenal have assembled their own sequence of single-goal victories, winning three in a row without ever being wholly convincing. Tuesday will be a test for both sides – and if Villa win a twelfth game in a row, it would become increasingly difficult to dismiss their championship pedigree.