Not since the 20th century have Aston Villa claimed this many points from their first eight Premier League games. They eventually finished sixth that season, but did not do anything so outrageous as beat Bayern Munich along the way. When will the Unai Emery era reach its ceiling?

There is little sign of it doing so at the moment, with Villa sticking resolutely to the heels of the division’s dominant trio, while racking up Champions League wins to boot. Since losing to Arsenal at the back end of August, Emery’s team have now strung together a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, this latest win coming at the expense of a Fulham side whose supporters’ thoughts had prematurely begun to wander towards potential European football of their own next season, so impressive was their own early-season form.