Aston Villa host Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday and Unai Emery is eyeing up one thing that no manager has ever achieved before.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have gone from being flawless at Villa Park to demonstrating their weaknesses.
Villa were comfortably beaten by Newcastle United in the Premier League before crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea.
Although that exit was disappointing, Emery is now looking towards their fixture against Manchester United as a ‘six-pointer’ and he’s demanding a response from his players.
The Villans will have Ezri Konsa missing for the next three to four weeks, but the return of Pau Torres – who took his place on the bench against Chelsea – is a huge boost to the Spaniard.
On Sunday, they have an opportunity to create an 11-point gap between them and United while strengthening their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Meanwhile, in a campaign where Emery is looking to break a whole host of records, there’s one he’s eyeing up this weekend.
What record could Unai Emery break this weekend?
If Villa win three points against United, Emery will become the first manager in Premier League history to have claimed victory from his first three home matches against the Red Devils.
The first of those wins came during his time at Arsenal as the Spaniard led the Gunners to a 2-0 victory in March 2019 with goals from Granit Xhaka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The latest was his first match in charge of Villa as strikes from Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey gave the supporters a flavour of what was to come.
Aston Villa vs Man United is huge in Champions League race
From winning 15 on the bounce to losing consecutive home fixtures, Emery’s side have to do something that they haven’t been required to do this term, and that is bouncing back from two defeats.
The Villans were particularly abject in both of these matches as several players, including Diego Carlos and Douglas Luiz, were slammed in the defeat against Chelsea.
Villa have to prove they are up for the task against a resurgent United side, who have shown how devastating they can be in recent matches, putting four past Wolves and scoring thrice against West Ham.
If the hosts secure victory and break a Premier League record in the process, an 11-point gap will open up between them and Erik ten Hag’s side, which could be impossible for the visitors to bridge.
