Noting a press conference, Unai Emery said that Wolves without their main players could become a trap for Aston Villa.
BirminghamLive provides Aston Villa news as Unai Emery addresses the media prior to his team’s Saturday matchup with Wolves.
Premier League football resumes this weekend and Aston Villa are hoping to strengthen their chances of securing qualification for the Champions League when they host Wolves at Villa Park on Saturday. Villa currently sit in fourth position with nine league matches left to play, three points ahead of Tottenham and nine ahead of Manchester United, but both have games in hand on Unai Emery’s side. Spurs host Luton before Villa kick-off against Wolves, while United play at Brentford after the game at Villa Park on Saturday night.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves head to Villa Park with a depleted squad as Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan, Craig Dawson and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde have all been ruled out. John McGinn and Matty Cash are both unavailable for Villa this weekend, as are long-term absentees Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia.
EMERY’S CONSCIENCE WITH WOLVES
Since a 1-0 victory on the road in December 2020 while playing for Dean Smith, Villa has lost all six of its Premier League encounters against Wolves. In their last seven trips to Villa Park as an away team, Wolves have alternated between four draws and three victories since losing their first-ever top-flight match against Villa in December 2003.
Emery anticipates a challenging matchup with Wolves, who have improved significantly under O’Neil this season.
In his news conference, Emery stated, “They are a very, very competitive team, very.” “Their coach is truly performing admirably. They play with personality against various teams in every game. even when facing the top four and seven teams in the standings.
“They have been successful. Tomorrow is going to be very difficult because to impose our positioning and to impose our capacity is not easy because they are going to try to avoid it.
“There will be a lot of duels and when they have the ball they have good organisation to play in combinations as well. We are ready to play tomorrow, respecting them a lot.”
ESSENTIAL GOAL COULD BE
Wolves have accumulated 22 points since Christmas Eve; only Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal have accrued more. It’s interesting to note that O’Neil’s team has won seven of the last eight league games in which they have scored the first goal, going undefeated in those games.
As Tottenham discovered last month, Villa will collapse on Saturday if they are not at the top of their game. Villa has to turn things around at home, where they have dropped three of their last four Premier League games at Villa Park—more than in any of Emery’s first twenty-three games in command.
“Tomorrow will be very difficult against Wolves,” he continued. “We want to get our best performances at home in Villa Park with our supporters. We want to play with personality and dominate.
“Sometimes we are getting it, sometimes not. Tomorrow is a big challenge as well how we can be comfortable and strong.
“Defensively as well we have to understand that it is the way to win. It depends on each match.”
While on Poland’s international team, Cash suffered a hamstring injury, which will keep him out of the starting lineup for at least the next two weeks. However, Jacob Ramsey’s comeback has helped Villa.
“Bad news with Matty Cash after he had an injury playing with his national team,” Emery said. “He had a minor wound when he returned. He isn’t accessible. He’ll be back in two or three weeks, maybe.
“Ramsey is progressing well, we are going to train today, this afternoon, and will decide if he can help us or not tomorrow.”
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