Emery urges Aston Villa to play their best possible game against Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa will host Nottingham Forest at home in the 31st round of the 2024/25 Premier League season, and coach Unai Emery said that his team must implement the battle plan in the game and play at the best level possible.

After achieving 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the last 5 league games, Aston Villa is currently ranked 7th in the standings with 48 points, 4 points behind 4th-placed Chelsea.

As for Nottingham Forest, Nuno's team is currently ranked third in the standings with 57 points. In the last round of the league, they defeated Manchester United 1-0 and achieved three consecutive victories.

Aston Villa coach Emery said in an interview, "Nottingham Forest will have a lot of collective or individual confrontations in the game. They performed very well in attack and defense transitions, set pieces, out-of-bounds balls and one-on-one confrontations. We certainly need to do better in every link, play our own football, and strive to play at our best level."

“Nuno has led the team to improve step by step since returning to the Premier League last year. Now Nottingham Forest has shown great competitiveness in the game and has defeated many opponents. Their position in the standings also reflects their efforts. I respect them very much. Of course, we will also conduct in-depth analysis to see how we can implement our plan in the game, strive to control the game, play better than the opponent, and stimulate the personal abilities of the players.”

In addition, Aston Villa defeated Brighton 3-0 away from home in the last round of the league with goals from Rashford, Asensio and Malen. It is worth mentioning that the 27-year-old Rashford contributed two goals in the FA Cup quarter-finals earlier, helping Aston Villa eliminate Preston and successfully advance to the semi-finals.

Happy with Rashford's performance

Speaking of the striker's performance, Emery said, "I am happy for him. He is achieving some personal achievements and getting back to form by playing in the games. We hope he can feel comfortable here and enjoy it in training, in the games, and with his teammates. We are also facing challenges together and hope he can play at his best and play to his strengths."

As for the squad status, Emery shared, “We don’t have much time to explain every detail, but we have to take into account the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup at the same time, and every game is very important. Some players are recovering and the whole team is getting stronger and stronger.”

"With most of the players available, I am happy with the current situation. My plan is to ensure that the team can maintain a high intensity throughout the 90 minutes and adapt to our own requirements and the challenges of the opponents."

Emery added: "It is extremely important to stay in good shape mentally and physically and to make sure the substitutes have a positive impact when they come on."