Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says that his side must be ready to see ‘the best team in the Premier League and Europe’ when leaders Liverpool come to Villa Park on Wednesday evening.
Villa fell six points behind the top four after he went home to Ipswich at the weekend, with Emery said that a return to the Champions League remains the goal.
New signing sessions Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio could both appear, while Emery is struggling with injury problems in the defense.
He said: “For me as a coach, Liverpool is a big challenge, a challenge of how we can put our game plan collectively against them. It is the most difficult match we have started playing in recent weeks and months.
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“Liverpool is the best team in the Premier League and Europe. Our challenge is how we meet and respond to our qualities and how we play at this level.
“We are enthusiastic and hopefully we can share our excited moments with our fans in Villa Park.”
Villa has only won one of their last 14 Premier League matches against Liverpool, albeit a 7-2 victory in Villa Park in October 2020.
A repeat – or three points in any case – would put Villa back in the mix for a European place in a race that probably looks like the thread again.
“We are positive, but we are enthusiastic and we are performing in the right direction,” said Emery.
“We need more points in case we want to achieve the biggest demand and objective we can have, namely in the Champions League.”
Team news
Midfielder/Defender Boubacar Kamara came out after he came up against Ipswich early, while Villa Vooruit Leon Bailey and defenders Ezri Konsa and Matty Cash could include in the team.
Emery on Kamara: “He was ready to play with a problem in his back, but the injury did not come from his back, it’s his hamstring. He tries to analyze and meet the doctors and physios and how we can get better. Exactly why, it’s hard. “
On Tyrone Mings’ return of injury: “Mings is a very important player, his comeback has been very good and he performs very well. He had a small stop in his recovery, but he played on Saturday and tomorrow we need him available. He is a very important player because he is one of the captains and a leader in the defense. “
