Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest preview: Unai Emery eager to extend winning streak
Unai Emery has warned Villa not to take their eye off the ball as they look to complete the perfect week by beating struggling Nottingham Forest tomorrow.
Villa head into the match on a three-match winning streak which includes back-to-back away triumphs at Chelsea and Leicester City and with European qualification now a genuine target.
They will be big favourites to record a fourth straight league victory for the first time since the start of the 2020-21 season against a Forest team who are winless in eight and have taken just six points all season on the road, scoring only five goals.
But Emery, while remaining cautious when discussing the possibility of Europe, insists this is no time for Villa to get complacent.
He explained: “We are being consistent in the top 10 – but only for one week, winning on Saturday at Chelsea and then on Tuesday (at Leicester).
“We have to be ambitious but also very consistent. With Saturday’s match we can close this week very well but it is again going to be very difficult.
“Sometimes when we have relaxed and thought it is maybe going to be easier than it is, maybe we make a mistake again. We are going to prepare with a big respect for Nottingham on Saturday.”
Emery’s reference is likely February’s 4-2 home defeat to a Leicester team who arrived at Villa Park in similarly rotten form to Forest find themselves now.
While Villa have excelled on their travels under Emery, dropping just five points from a possible 24 since he took charge, at home things have not always gone so smoothly. Though they have won the last two at Villa Park without conceding, against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, they look more of a work in progress at home than away and even a head coach who analyses every second of every performance seems a little puzzled as to why.
“It’s not normal like we are doing,” said Emery. “I arrived here when (Villa) didn’t win one match away. I’ve been very demanding with them because winning away is more difficult than winning at home. Now it’s different for us – more difficult at home for us rather than away. The idea is to create and build a team and a way.”
Emery has sought to play down hopes of Europe since questions first started getting asked a few weeks ago but appeared to accept there was little point continuing the act in the wake of the win at Leicester.
Yet he is right to insist it will still be a hard task. Brighton and Liverpool, the two teams either side of seventh-placed Villa in the table, both have matches in hand while after tomorrow, the trip to Wolves on May 6 is the only remaining fixture against a bottom half team. If Villa do end up qualifying for Europe, they will have earned it.
“We escaped from the bottom because the players have been very committed to the work,” said Emery. “But we have to add a new target in our next matches.”
