he manager of Aston Villa Unai Emery has been named as the best Premier League manager of the month of December 2025, winning the award for the third time.
The former Arsenal manager led Aston Villa to an impressive five wins from six games to close out 2025, with that form propelling the Villans firmly into Premier League title contention.
Aston Villa started the month with an impressive goal thriller in December edging past Brighton & Hove Albion in a seven-goal thriller on the south coast, with Ollie Watkins scoring twice in a 4-3 win.
This was followed that up with an impressive 2-1 victory over Arsenal, with Emiliano Buendia’s winner in the fifth minute of added time
Villa continued their habit of winning by a single goal in their next three matches, beating West Ham United 3-2, before edging out Manchester United and Chelsea with consecutive 2-1 scorelines.
The month of December ended in defeat to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on 30 December which ended Villa’s eight-game winning sequence in the Premier League. However they have recovered well from that setback by taking four points from a possible six since the New Year to consolidate third place.
This is Emery’s first Manager of the Month award since 2023 when he won it twice: in April and December. He is one of five Villa managers or head coaches to be named Barclays Manager of the Month, while only Martin O’Neill (with four) has won it more times for the club than Emery’s total of three.