Unai Emery's Aston Villa host Manchester United on Sunday (Image: Photo by Julian Finney - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Unai Emery wary of Erik ten Hag one-off as he addresses Man Utd situation

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has given his assessment of Manchester United and Erik ten Hag ahead of Sunday's meeting at Villa Park (2pm kick-off)

by · Birmingham Live

Unai Emery has revealed he will devote more time to analyse Manchester United than he did Bayern Munich ahead of Aston Villa's final Premier League clash before the October international break on Sunday.

Despite United's poor recent form under Erik ten Hag, Emery is wary that they are capable of a strong performance on any given day considering they won the FA Cup final against Manchester City last season. Villa come into the clash in a different vein of form having beaten Bayern Munich at Villa Park on Wednesday night, 24 hours before United salvaged a 3-3 draw against Porto at the Estadio do Dragao.

Ahead of Sunday's meeting at Villa Park, Emery was asked if he was worried about a possible hangover from what was a historic night against the German giants in midweek.

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"I am reflecting a lot every day how we are doing our process and how close we are to lose it," Emery explained. "In this process [we are trying to] increase more or less everything around the club, not only the players, the objective in our competition, as well as a club trying to increase the budget through lots of things.

"The club is committed to get better in everything. It is clear. There are great demands. Of course, the process is starting as well with the results we are having in the last two years. We got the Conference League and now we’re involved in the Champions League. Being consistent is the most important thing.

"There are a lot of examples I have of myself, how hard it is to be consistent and in Europe and how we are getting Europe? Through the Premier League. It is the first objective I had. We enjoyed a lot the match we played against Bayern and the first one in Bern.

"I have ambition in this club since I arrived here and today it is the same. It is to be demanding every match, even achieving objectives before we planned like being in Europe seven months after I came here. Then we got to the Champions League. We are getting a very successful way, more than I was thinking. Now, my expectation is to keep it.

"The example I have is we must be demanding and do not relax. Every person relaxes when we get comfortable. When we get comfortable, this is what I want to control. Starting with myself, how we face each match and how we can be consistent. After we played on Wednesday, a fantastic day, the supporters are very happy, but now I want to win on Sunday."

United boss Erik ten Hag is under huge pressure heading into the weekend because he has only won two league games so far this term. Reports claimed that United were ready to change their manager after the cup final back in May.

Asked about the United manager, Emery said: "I have a lot of respect. I won the first match, but after it we lost four matches against them at home and away. They are a winning team and they have an experienced coach and experienced players.

"This is a winning club, and they still are after winning the FA Cup against Manchester City. They are not getting consistent results, but playing one match they could get their capacity and skills. I will respect them and prepare match more than I did against Bayern Munich."

What do you make of Emery's comments? Have your say HERE

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