Unai Emery has sent out a warning message to Liverpool ahead of Aston Villa’s Friday night clash in the Premier League with Arne Slot’s Reds.
Liverpool fans will be travelling in their masses to Villa Park on Friday night, hoping to put to bed any nerves surrounding their Champions League chances with a win in the Midlands.
This will, of course, be easier said than done, as Emery’s hosts also have their own European hopes on the line, with Villa currently sitting on the same points tally as the reigning Premier League champions.
It has the makings of being a barnstorming match to take in, with both sides going for the win that safely secures their spot in Europe’s elite competition next season.
The hope for Liverpool, when they make the trip to Villa Park at the end of the week, will be that the Villans already have their eye on the Europa League final, as they place Freiburg next Wednesday in Istanbul for a chance at European silverware.
Winning that one-off contest against the Bundesliga outfit would also secure the Midlands outfit a seat around this exclusive European table next season, so it will be intriguing to see if Villa do go all guns blazing when Arne Slot‘s men come to town.
Emery, who is a serial Europa League winner, has offered a warning message to the Merseyside giants, ahead of the Friday night encounter, with the Spaniard very much up for the prospect of denting Liverpool’s already bruised confidence, based on his pre-match comments.
Emery’s comments ahead of Liverpool clash
Ultimately, while their eyes will be slightly on the prize of lifting the Europa League, Villa will want to win whatever match is in front of them.
Moreover, the Midlands titans will head into this match off the back of a disappointing 2-2 draw with Burnley, just like Liverpool stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, so the Villa players will, no doubt, be pumped up.
Emery certainly thinks his camp will be motivated to win, despite the short turnaround for the Europa League final, when discussing the Reds match post the Burnley draw.
He stated: “We are doing [it] in the Europa League, but at the same time, we are competing again to be in the Champions League next year — hopefully through the league or hopefully through the Europa League.
“I am so motivated, so excited for the match on Friday against Liverpool.
“We are going to test against them as well in Villa Park, which team is, in this moment, better than the other in the table.
“We have the same points. Of course, it’s Liverpool and it’s going to be very difficult, and it’s a huge challenge, and then prepare [for] the final against Freiburg in 10 days.
“Every supporter of Aston Villa and follower of Aston Villa should be so proud of everything we are doing, and we should be so excited and motivated to try to face the last days, the last weeks, the last matches of the season.”
Emery has delivered somewhat of a rallying cry to his troops to be up for both the Liverpool game and the approaching final in Istanbul, as the 2025/26 season nears ever closer to its dramatic conclusion.
Liverpool will be aiming to rain on the Villa parade before they jet off to Turkey, and looking at Emery’s dire record when facing the Reds, a Champions League clinching win might well be forthcoming.
Unai Emery vs. Liverpool: Overall Record:
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
Emery has a dire record against Liverpool
Staggeringly, from 14 total meetings against the Merseyside outfit, the Spaniard has only ever been victorious once, and that coincidentally fell in the Europa League final in 2016, when his Sevilla side beat Jurgen Klopp’s Reds 3-1.
Since then, he has had to stomach four draws and nine defeats, with Liverpool collecting a 2-2 draw at Villa Park last season, on the way to the title being lifted.
This time around, they’ll be looking for a victory, so their Champions League doubts don’t seep into the final day of the season, as Emery and Slot do battle on Friday night.
