Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has claimed that he expects Liverpool to ‘react’ in the race for European football.
Villa have been a different beast since Emery took over from Steven Gerrard. With three Premier League wins in a row, they’ve climbed above Liverpool into seventh place.
But despite this good form, the Spanish coach isn’t getting too excited. Although Liverpool and fellow underachievers Chelsea are currently below his team, Emery expects them to both continue to pose a threat.
“First, we have to be consistent now in the top 10. Of course, with those victories we have added six points in the table. Now, we can add another step ahead thinking to be candidate to be in the European position,” said the 51-year-old via the Birmingham Mail.
“But it’s going to be very difficult because of Brighton, Brentford – they’re playing very well. We’re now with them – Chelsea and Liverpool as well, they have to be in Europe next year and we have to fight with them to be in Europe. They will react as well. We can have ambition and motivation to try to be a candidate.”
Villa announce their candidacy
As if Liverpool didn’t have enough problems with Brighton, Brentford and even Fulham lurking around, Villa have now shot up the table.
After hiring such a seasoned campaigner in Emery, that was always likely to be the case. The Midlands side have invested a lot of money over recent years and have an impressive squad.
Under Gerrard they flattered to deceive. That they’ve been brilliant since introducing of one of Europe’s elite coaches has shown the Liverpool icon’s tenure up even more.
Their form isn’t the Reds’ problem, though. For now, we simply have to focus on getting the most out of each and every game we play in. That’s the only thing Liverpool have control over for now.
Thankfully, with Brentford, Villa and Fulham all still to come to Anfield, the Reds’ fate is still a little in their own hands. Win those games, and they’ll be hopeful of doing enough to finish above all three.
But fail to react, and they surely won’t. In other years, a semi-firing Liverpool may still have been good enough to finish in the European places. However, the emergence of these new challengers has made the Premier League a more competitive league than ever. Emery is right, it’s imperative for Liverpool to qualify for Europe. Whether they will or not is still anyone’s guess.
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