Unai Emery sends Aston Villa warning ahead of match with fellow Champions League chasers

Aston Villa boss says are in their “best moment” ahead of their crunch clash at Villa Park on Saturday.

go into the contest after being knocked out of the but almost staged an unlikely quarter-final comeback against Paris St Germain, winning 3-2 on the night but missing out on aggregate. Saturday’s encounter with will go a long way in saying who will dine at Europe’s top table next season, with the Magpies sitting in third with Villa four places below.

Newcastle but go into the game off the back of six successive wins including their Carabao Cup triumph. Emery knows the importance of the weekend’s game.

He said: “The first step tomorrow. The first three points we will face against favourites to be in the top five, because they are now really performing very well, they are winning a lot of matches in a row, getting a lot of points.

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“They are now in their best moment. They are performing very well, they are winning matches, they are feeling confident, they are feeling strong. They have five points more than us. It means a lot, how we are, how they are, how important is the match tomorrow.

“Still 18 points to play (for) in (the) Premier League, and they have five points in advantage.”

Villa are in the middle of a congested period where they play three games in the space of a week, with a trip to awaiting them on Tuesday. Saturday’s hosts endured a tiring evening in midweek but Emery will be boosted with the fact there are no new injury concerns ahead of the meeting.

He added: “The most important for me now, is how they are, the players. We are going to train this afternoon. We are going to try to test the players, how they are for tomorrow. At the beginning every player is available for tomorrow.

“Only if someone can feel something or tired more than normal but tomorrow’s match is our objective, and the level they (Newcastle) have is similar level as ’s team.”

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