After a dramatic elimination from the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, Aston Villa take aim at trying to seal their return to the competition Saturday when they host a Newcastle United side they may need to catch to do so.
Manager Unai Emery’s group will need to recover quickly from the emotion of their UCL quarterfinal defeat over two legs to Paris Saint-Germain, after nearly completing a thrilling comeback in the second leg at home.
Down 2-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate Wednesday, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa scored in a furious fightback that ended in a 5-4 aggregate defeat, just shy of forcing the two-leg tie to extra time.
Villa (15-8-9, 54 points) enter the weekend in seventh in the Premier League, but only a point back of Manchester City in the fifth and final UCL qualifying place and with time left still to catch third-place Newcastle (18-9-5, 59 points).
“The first step (is) tomorrow,” Emery said. “The first three points we will face against favorites 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.”
He continued: “It means a lot, how we are, how they are, how important is the match tomorrow.”
Indeed the visiting Magpies are in their best form of the season, winning six straight in all competitions, including the Carabao Cup final over Liverpool and five league fixtures.
Newcastle have scored three or more goals and won by at least three in their most recent wins over Leicester City, Manchester United and Crystal Palace. Harvey Barnes has four goals in those three matches and Jacob Murphy has scored three.
Some of this has come while manager Eddie Howe remains out battling pneumonia, with assistant Jason Tindall currently deputizing in Howe’s stead. And with a healthy, deep squad, Tindall is having to make some tough choices in selecting his teams.
“When you’re in good form and winning games it becomes difficult to change your team unless you feel players aren’t performing,” Tindall said. “And I don’t think anyone can say that because the players are collectively and individually delivering excellent performances
“In some senses the team does pick itself, but we’ve got a fantastic squad and everyone’s played their part this season. Everybody is going to need to play their part in the remaining six games.”
–Field Level Media
