OFFICIAL PREVIEW: UNAI EMERY ANALYZES ASTON VILLA’S TACTICAL EVOLUTION BEFORE THE UNITED SHOWDOWN
Aston Villa seeks revenge 210 days after a controversial loss to Man Utd cost them Champions League glory. Title Dreams are real!
Aston Villa is out for payback against Manchester United this weekend. Unai Emery's team wants to stay close to Arsenal and Manchester City in the chase for the title.
It's been 210 days since that controversial loss at United on the last day of the 2024/25 season. That defeat cost Villa a spot in the Champions League. Now, they're facing Man U again, but this time there's more than just a place in Europe at stake.
Villa is close to City and Arsenal in the title race. Getting things right against United is a chance to make their title dreams more real.
Yes, of course, Emery told Sky Sports when asked if last season's ending adds extra fire to Sunday's game at Villa Park.
Manchester United is very tough. We're really up for keeping our form against them. Since I got here three years ago, we've been going head-to-head, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but always close.
Right now, we're even ahead of them, with a bit of an advantage. But Sunday is huge for us and those three points. This is a great chance, and we're pumped.
'Need to be realistic to believe we can win the title'
Emery hasn't wanted to talk about the title much, always saying the focus is on the next game.
Right now, Opta puts their chances of winning the league for the first time since 1981 at only 5.8%. But just the fact that people are talking about it shows how far they've come since Emery arrived back in October 2022.
Back then, it looked more likely they'd fall back into the Championship than win anything.
A tough Christmas is coming up—Chelsea and Arsenal away after United. But when Emery was asked about the title race, he just smiled and didn't say much.
Of course, I'd like us to be seen as title favourites, but we're not, Emery said.
We're playing really well, we're competing hard, and we're third right now. That's where we are.
But to think we're favourites, to really believe we can win the league, we need to stay consistent, keep pushing ourselves, and stay grounded.
They've won 10 of their last 11 Premier League games, but can they keep it up?
Emery is choosing to focus on getting better, using their recent wins as something to build on.
We're working every day to find ways to win. First, we need to be strong on defence, he said.
Second, we need to improve our attack as a team, be smart with our tactics, and make each player feel good playing to their strengths in their best position.
And then, we need to score in different ways. Set pieces are really important, and we're working on them a lot. My priority is how we can improve every day and in every game.
Even when we win, there's still a lot to improve.
Emery hints at January signings.
Villa isn't just looking at the Premier League. Last season, Emery got them to the Champions League quarter-finals and an FA Cup semi-final, and they fought for a top-five spot until the very end.
Villa is in a good spot to do the same this season.
They're currently level on points with Lyon and Midtjylland in the Europa League. Part of the reason they did so well in the second half of last season was because of the smart addition of Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, Axel Disasi, and Donyell Malen in January.
Villa didn't have much money to spend in the summer, but Emery hasn't ruled out bringing in new players. "Of course, we're open to it, and the club is working on it," he said.
Last year was great. The way Malen, Rashford, Asensio, and Disasi came in helped us a lot.
This year, we have to be ready and think about how we can improve the team and do it if we need to.
Emery isn't talking about titles or transfers, but the mood at Bodymoor Heath is that the club is feeling a new sense of what's possible.
They are calm, focused, and quietly ambitious. This Villa team is enjoying the ride, step by step, with a growing feeling that something special could happen at the end of the season.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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