Aston Villa manager Unai Emery’s side will be confident going into Sunday’s clash with Manchester United after some midweek heroics in the Champions League.
The Reds host United at 2 pm having beaten Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the match, Emery was asked about Ten Hag (via Manchester Evening News):
“I have a lot of respect for him. We won the first match when I arrived here and it was fantastic, but after that we lost four matches against them at home and away.
“They are a winning team, they have an experienced coach and experienced players. The club is usually a winning club and they still being winners – they won the FA Cup last year against Manchester City.
“They are not getting consistently good results in the Premier League, but playing only one match, they can exploit their capacity and skill with a huge performance.”
Emery continued: “We are not favourites to be in the top seven, we are not favourites in the Premier League. We want to be contenders in the process we are, getting points.
“We are playing on Sunday against Manchester United and I think it’s a huge match for us after we played Bayern Munich because through Premier League we are playing against the best teams in the world.
“Manchester United aren’t in the Champions League now they are playing in the Europa League, but they are a team with a quality players and coach, like teams we are facing in the Champions League.
“On Sunday, we will need the same atmosphere with the supporters in Villa Park like we had on Wednesday. I have no doubt they are going to help and support on Sunday, transmitting their energy and pushing us to get three points.
“I respect them and I will prepare the match more than how I prepared the match against Bayern Munich.”
For Villa, they’re at home, so they’ll be looking to take the points and use the momentum from their memorable win over Munich in midweek.
Emery has done a magnificent job at Aston Villa in terms of the whole football club. They’re thriving under him as a club and team which takes them into a stronger position than United.
The league table right now proves that.
United are in for a tough game at Villa Park. Make no mistake about that.
Subscribe to the Stretty News podcast Strettycast for weekly episodes on Manchester United. You can also sign up to the ad-free Stretty Newsletter. Get the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
