Matt Maher previews Aston Villa's Premier League clash against Newcastle

Matt Maher previews Aston Villa's Premier League clash against Newcastle.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon from Bodimoore Heath where Unai Emery has held his press conference

00:04out of Saturday's game with Newcastle United. A huge game for Villa coming what

00:10four days after the Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain. Two huge

00:15Premier League games coming up now in the next few days. Obviously Newcastle

00:17on Saturday, Manchester City on Tuesday and the results of these games are going

00:22to go a long way to determine in your field whether Villa will make a return

00:25to the Champions League next season. They're seventh in the table at the

00:29minute but it's all very tight. Newcastle after their 5-1 win, 5-0 win rather

00:34sorry over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night have a lead on the rest of the

00:38bunch. They're in third place, they're five points ahead of Villa with six to

00:42play and Unai Emery making the point today you know basically saying those

00:48numbers. He didn't quite say it specifically but it's clear that if Villa

00:52don't beat Newcastle tomorrow or certainly if they were to lose it'd be very hard to

00:56see them overhauling Newcastle before the end of the season. I mean you couldn't

01:00find two teams at the minute in better form really. Villa have won nine out of the

01:05last ten games in all competitions. The one defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain

01:09in the Champions League. Newcastle have won five straight in the Premier League.

01:14Both teams absolutely flying. The statistics eerily similar to two years ago

01:19actually. Well they're the same. Newcastle have won five Premier League games. Villa

01:23have won four when they met in April 2023 and Villa won that game 3-0. You know one of the big

01:28early results under Unai Emery. But of course Newcastle have a history of ending Villa's

01:34unbeaten runs at home. They were the first team to win at Villa Park in nearly a year when

01:39they did so in January 2024 in the Premier League. Villa 18 games unbeaten in all competitions

01:44at home. You know you'd back them over everybody. But this does feel, certainly at Villa Park,

01:49this is the biggest test they've got left remaining. A win tomorrow would be huge.

01:55Emery expecting to have a full squad to choose from. You know no fresh injury concerns but

02:00put the training later today. So you know we'll see what happens there. But both teams you feel

02:04could not be in better form. It's all set up to be a cracker on Saturday evening at Villa Park.