Unai Emery has claimed Aston Villa are not in the Premier League title race, insisting such talk "does not make sense".

Villa take on Emery's former club Arsenal on Tuesday in a huge clash at the top of the table.

Arsenal lead the way but are just three points clear of Villa, who came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday and seal a club-record equalling 11th straight win in all competitions.

Villa are unbeaten in their last two away league games against Arsenal, beating them 2-0 in April 2024 and drawing 2-2 in January last season.

They last had a longer run without defeat at the Emirates between 2006-07 and 2008-09 (three games), while they also beat the Gunners at Villa Park earlier in December.

Emery, though, believes title talk is premature.

He said: "To speak about the title does not make sense for us.

"Now, in December, it does not make sense. We are motivated and excited, but for the moment, we are motivated for the match.

"With three points difference between them and us, this is our motivation.

"With how we are performing, we can feel proud of everything we are building. Tactically, mentally, individually. We are trying to feel inside as a family, we are spending more time here than with family.

"The next challenge is very difficult, the most difficult challenge we can face now, because it's the best team."

The Opta supercomputer's predictions seem to tally with Emery's sentiment, with Villa handed just a 7.5% chance of winning the title.

"We must be proud of everything we're doing but we must be humble and confident and we must be ambitious as well," Emery added.

"They [Arsenal] are playing fantastic, being so strong in everything. They are getting better and better. We are so motivated to get this moment to play against them.

"For them, it is very important because three weeks ago we beat them, and they will usually want to show their power against us.

"This is the next step forward. Our test is how we can face them with our structure."

Arsenal have lost three of their last five Premier League matches against Villa, who could now complete a Premier League double over the Gunners for the third time in six seasons.