Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is excited to face in-form Crystal Palace during the Premier League’s midweek mayhem.
Clubs will be back in action across the week following a hectic weekend which saw the Villans come from behind to beat Chelsea and move within two points of fourth-placed Manchester City.
But the Midlands side visit Palace on Tuesday, who have won three of their last five in the top flight.
Speaking ahead of the game, Emery said: “It depends tomorrow on how we are responding. The league is progressing and the matches are becoming less so we have to recover [the points] that we lost.
“But we are positive and we are more or less trying to be strong again, astute tactically and mentally. We did business in the transfer window and we need time to recover players. Each day and match is a test.
“They have recovered very well because they started at the beginning not getting many good results. They are getting better.
🗣️ “Each day, each match is a test.”
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“In my last two matches against them they have performed very well. They are perhaps playing even better away from home at the moment.
“Tactically it is very difficult to stop them. They are astute and have players coming out on the winning side of duals.
“I respect them a lot and the way they play their matches. Our challenge is to compete with them and it is a really good test.
“I am excited as I want to see how we respond.”
A win for Villa could take them as high as fourth, while a loss could see them slip to 10th, such is a tightness in the table.
But with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio all finding their rhythm in 2025, Villa could make a charge and retain their Champions League finish from last season.
