Regarding Aston Villa, it is quite surprising to see they are in the top 4 of EPL standings. They look stronger than the previous season. It is still different with Newcastle, they are now much weaker than the last season. However, it is still the first half of the season, there is still high chance for the changes on the position. Let's see which team to play more consistently in the second half of the season. I believe the team that has a better squad depth probably will play more consistently.
Now seeing Aston Villa is even wilder in terms of the game so that it is in second place which is quite good at the moment, and it is true that if they are still consistent until the end of the season then this is extraordinary with what Unai Emery has achieved.
Newcastle have started to decline, there must be a little bit of improvement in their squad especially some important players are absent due to injury or Tonali is punished, what Eddie Howe must do is find a way out if not they will only be in the middle of the table so we are not sure they can finish better.
I believe squad depth is not a major factor for a team to be consistent because anyway, if we consider about Aston Villa. Then yes, at least Aston Villa also does not have good squad depth but anyway, the fact is that Aston Villa managed to maintain a position in second place. Whereas before, we know that Arsenal are at the top of the table and Arsenal have better squad depth compared to Aston Villa but in fact, Arsenal still failed to maintain their position.
Therefore, I think at this moment it is about how well their head coach applies the strategy by adjusting the players in the squad. If their head coach is right in applying the players according to the right strategy then yes, at least the team's performance will also be able to have better consistency.