Unai Emery has warned Aston Villa that Ange Postecoglou won’t be fielding a below-strength Tottenham Hotspur side at Villa Park.
The Spaniard remains laser-focused on the job at hand and has slammed the door firmly shut on any notion of a walkover.
The Premier League brought forward this fixture from Sunday to allow the North Londoners extra time to prepare for their Europa League final against Manchester United next Wednesday.
Emery Expecting Tottenham to Take Friday Fixture Seriously
Tottenham are just days away from a Europa League final
The world of football has this marked down as a ‘home win’ given Villa’s desperate need for three points to continue their push towards a second successive Champions League qualification. But Emery is not so sure.
Rather than field a weakened team, he believes that his Australian counterpart will be taking it more seriously.
I think they are going to play with better players - they are going to try to compete and get their best performances to be ready for the final.
Each match in the Premier League is always important for the supporters.
I think they will go with their best players, maybe some who are coming back after injury.
But my expectation is they will play with the starting players who are fit for the final and because they respect the Premier League, it will be their approach.
Emery was on high alert ahead of the game.
He is experienced enough to appreciate the context and his message was that Spurs would be armed and dangerous.
Villa came a cropper in the same fixture last season. Both clubs were pushing for the top four - but the hosts were on the wrong end of a four-goal drubbing.
Villa’s boss added: “I respect them a lot. I have massive respect for Tottenham - the players, the coach.
“Last year, he was doing a fantastic job.
“This year, they are not being consistent for different reasons - but analysing them in the Europa League, they are doing really well.”
Emery Set to Take Charge of 100th Aston Villa Match
The Spaniard will want to mark it with a win
This will be Emery’s 100th match in charge of Villa.
He started with a bang in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United. That season, Villa qualified for Europe.
He then bettered that by reaching the Champions League - breaking a club record for successive home victories in the Premier League.
Asked to look back on his favourite moments, Emery said:
It’s difficult to select one because we are building and moving forward.
I can remember the first match here against Manchester United…the one against Brighton we won to reach the Europa Conference League.
Then when we beat Brighton 6-1 and Arsenal at the Emirates last year - that was a key match for us to get into a Champions League position.
We won 14, 15, 16 matches in a row. That was really fantastic.
Emery continued: “But sometimes losing as well. We lost three in a row - Arsenal 4-2, Manchester City away 3-1, Leicester at home 4-2.
“At that moment, it was important how we reacted, how we met with the players at the training ground to speak about change.
“We were wrong tactically.
“But I’m excited to add more moments - good moments, hopefully like against Tottenham.
“For the way we are doing it together, for the Villa fans, the workers, the players, the coaches - and for you, the journalists as well
“I want you all to enjoy the moment we are having.”