Unai Emery’s high-flying Aston Villa will host another high-flying side Newcastle United at Villa Park tomorrow in what promises to be an intense encounter.
Both clubs are currently enjoying life in the Premier League with Newcastle winning all their last five matches while Aston Villa have won four consecutively.
Nine points separate the two teams but the hosts have played one match more and a win for either side will mean much in this business end of the season as Newcastle will get closer to achieving Champions League football while Aston Villa will move closer to qualifying for either the Europa League or Europa Conference League next season.
The last time Newcastle and Aston Villa featured in a European competition was in 2013 and 2011 respectively, and now that they can achieve European football, they cannot afford to drop points at this stage of the competition.
Emery commented on their potential European football qualification that: “We are a candidate, but it will be very difficult. I want to create a strong way, we have to be very consistent and progressively improve.”
And when asked about tomorrow’s game in particular, the Spaniard answered, “We are in the key moment [of our season]. We are thinking only of the three points tomorrow.”
While speaking to the media in a pre-match press conference earlier today, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe acknowledged the difficulty of this fixture and what they have to do to get the better of their opponents tomorrow.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge for us. We’re going to have to get certain parts of our defensive structure right or they’ll give us big problems. Their form has been strong and consistent so we know we’ll; have to be better.” Howe said.
Newcastle were 4-0 victors when the two sides met at St. James’ Park in October last year and Aston Villa would like to revenge that.
Team news
Leone Bailey, who suffered a hamstring injury during Aston Villa’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest last week, will join other injured players Philippe Coutinho, Boubacar Kamara, and Matty Cash on the sidelines. Everyone else is available for selection.
Allan Saint-Maximin suffered a hamstring problem that will keep him out for several weeks as he joins long-term absentee Emil Krafth on Newcastle’s doctor’s list. Miguel Almiron could return for this fixture after sitting out the previous four.
