{"id":297533,"date":"2023-12-08T18:24:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=297533"},"modified":"2023-12-08T18:24:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:24:59","slug":"aston-villas-unai-emery-warns-of-biggest-challenge-against-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/aston-villas-unai-emery-warns-of-biggest-challenge-against-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa&apos;s Unai Emery warns of &apos;biggest challenge&apos; against Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Aston Villa&#8217;s &#8216;amazing&#8217; victory over Man City hailed by Unai Emery as it moved the Villains third, but the boss warns his players face the &#8216;biggest challenge&#8217; of the season so far against the leaders Arsenal<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says his players can dare to dream after their start<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>He calls Saturday&#8217;s game against leaders Arsenal the &#8216;biggest challenge&#8217; so far<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It will do Arsenal no harm at all to have Arteta out of sight at Villa Park &#8211; IAKO<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unai Emery says Aston Villa can dare to dream after their stunning start \u2013 but has warned they face their &#8216;biggest challenge&#8217; yet against leaders Arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>Emery&#8217;s team are up to third and just four points adrift the of the Gunners following Wednesday&#8217;s statement victory over champions Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p>That made it a club-record equalling 14th successive home league win for Villa, with City boss Pep Guardiola even claiming they are capable of winning the title.<\/p>\n<p>The Second City club currently sit on 32 points \u2013 the same number as Leicester had at this stage in their 5000\/1 Premier League title-winning season.<\/p>\n<p>Emery said: &#8216;It was amazing what they achieved in that moment.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/08\/16\/78744441-12842553-image-a-1_1702053618224.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Unai Emery believes Aston Villa fans are right to dream after the impressive start to the season<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/08\/16\/78665125-12842553-Leon_Bailey_s_late_strike_sealed_victory_for_Aston_Villa_against-a-2_1702053706486.jpg\" height=\"402\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Leon Bailey&#8217;s late strike sealed Aston Villa&#8217;s win against Man City which took the Villains third<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It is very difficult. We are going to do it our way and have our personality. We are going to build a team and in our style.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We must be consistent and the mentality is important and that is that there is still a lot of work to do.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Asked if it is OK for fans to dream, Emery replied: &#8216;Of course, we have to dream always.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I am dreaming and sometimes my dreams are very important for me as it&#8217;s an aspiration to get my best.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>While a title bid might remain the stuff of dreams for now, the top four very much looks a realistic ambition with a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Tottenham now in hand.<\/p>\n<p>But Emery insists Villa cannot afford to dwell on their memorable Manchester City triumph for too long and says where they are in the spring is the key.<\/p>\n<p>He continued: &#8216;It is a big motivation to be praised for the work we are receiving.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Every praise is now important for us, but it is not to distract us in our objective.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We can wait until matchday 30 or 32 and if we are in the top four in that moment, I think we can then think maybe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We will then be contenders to be there. We have to be focused. The match finished on Wednesday and we enjoyed that moment with supporters in Villa Park.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It has been a sensational turnaround given Emery inherited a team facing a potential relegation battle when he arrived a little over a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite that, Emery believes there is still more to come from \u2013 though he concedes their sternest test yet awaits his former club on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8216;I want to be \u2013 and it is my challenge every day \u2013 to be better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today. I am not going to stop.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/08\/16\/78744601-12842553-image-a-3_1702053840064.jpg\" height=\"468\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Emery believes Aston Villa will face their &#8216;biggest challenge&#8217; of the season against Arsenal<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/08\/16\/78744563-12842553-image-a-4_1702053870185.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Spaniard managed at the Emirates from May 2018 until he was sacked in November 2019<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It is to keep a balance too. We were playing very well against Manchester City but we must stay at this level.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We can remind ourselves the last match before Manchester City was against Bournemouth and we were very close to losing (after Ollie Watkins&#8217; header earned a 1-1 draw).<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Of course, Saturday is going to be difficult. We are confident at home and are feeling strong at Villa Park. Saturday is really the biggest challenge we are going to face yet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We are against now the best team in this season in the Premier League. They are first in the table.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12842553\/Aston-Villas-amazing-victory-Man-City-hailed-Unai-Emery-moved-Villains-boss-warns-players-face-biggest-challenge-season-far-against-leaders-Arsenal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Aston Villa&#8217;s &#8216;amazing&#8217; victory over Man City hailed by Unai Emery as it moved the Villains third, but the boss warns his players face the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/aston-villas-unai-emery-warns-of-biggest-challenge-against-arsenal\/\" title=\"Aston Villa&amp;apos;s Unai Emery warns of &amp;apos;biggest challenge&amp;apos; against Arsenal\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Aston Villa&amp;apos;s Unai Emery warns of &amp;apos;biggest challenge&amp;apos; 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