Aston Villa manager and former Arsenal manager Unai Emery could derail a further bid for the North London Premier League title at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, just as he did in 2024.
Unai Emery has insisted he has no hard feelings about returning to the Emirates Stadium to dash Arsenal’s title dreams. “Right now my heart is with Aston Villa,” he said on the eve of Tuesday night’s major title showdown.
The Spaniard never came close to winning the Premier League during his ill-fated 18 months in north London, but he still insists his Aston Villa are no challengers. However, Emery effectively ended his former club’s title challenge with a classic tactical masterclass victory against the Emirates in April 2024, culminating in two late goals.
And after ending the Gunners’ 17-game unbeaten run at Villa Park earlier this month, Emery’s side could deal another big blow to the north London club’s Premier League tilt on Tuesday night.
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Asked if he was emotional about returning to Arsenal, Villa said: “No, because I’ve been coaching for 20 years at different clubs in Spain, England and even Russia and Paris. Coming back to play for the team I used to coach means it’s just one more game for me. There’s nothing else to it. It’s my responsibility to do the best job for the fans and I’m giving it my all and I want to win.”
“My heart is with San Sebastian, Real Union and Sociedad. The other clubs I have coached, my heart is part of them. Now my heart is with Aston Villa. Everything I do is about doing what is best for the fans, the owners, the players and the coach.”
A 12-game win at Villa, followed by back-to-back away wins against Chelsea and Arsenal, would see them level with the latest club level on points against the Gunners at the halfway point of the season. And the former Sevilla, PSG and Villarreal manager, who was a bit of a joke at Arsenal before Arteta took over in 2019, will become a serious title contender, whether he admits it or not. The four-time Europa League champion has the strongest team in Europe.
Fellow Basque Arteta, who doesn’t hide his emotions on the touchline, claimed Arsenal wanted Villa to “suffer” against the Emirates after watching a disturbing video of their “brutal” defeat to West Midlands on December 6.
“We’ll look back at the game. There are some ideas and things we need to improve on. The way we lost was also very brutal, but yeah, we learned from it,” he said. “If you use that motivation and that hunger in the right way, it can be a good thing.”
Arsenal have won six consecutive Premier League home games but are yet to beat a top-five team. And they have benefited from four own goals in their last three unconvincing games at the Emirates. That includes the Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace and the weekend’s 2-1 win over Brighton.
“Well, that’s what we want, that every opponent that comes here suffers and that we dominate for the majority of the game and against Villa, as we did today,” Arteta said.
Manager Emery, who has named Arsenal as the “favourite to win”, is expecting a rebound in the match between both injury-hit teams. “Tomorrow will probably be the toughest challenge we can face because they are the best team,” he said.
And the Spaniard, who won the Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, said of Villa’s chances: “For me, talking about titles doesn’t make sense for us. It’s December now.”
But Emery, now 54 and starting to turn gray, added: “Dreams are free. Everyone has to dream. I have a dream and I’m here because I’ve earned that dream. My big dream here, or as a coach, is to win the Champions League. That’s my dream, all my life.”
“At every moment, I am realistic. The only dream I have right now is tomorrow’s game. There are many ways to go where I want to go, but now there is only tomorrow. After tomorrow we will see.”
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