Unai Emery says Newcastle United are a 'challenge' but throws down gauntlet to Magpies with bullish statement
Newcastle United take on Aston Villa at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon with a 2 pm kick-off at St James' Park, live on Sky Sports.
There are so many similarities between Aston Villa and Newcastle these days, with both sides getting stronger and challenging the 'Big Six' while also coming up against the restrictions that seem specifically designed to stop us from doing so.
Villa manager Unai Emery had a thinly veiled pop at those very restrictions last week following his side's defeat to Everton, saying that his side, who had recently been touted as title contenders, are not even competitors for the top five.
We don't believe he meant that his side can't finish in the top five of the table this season, but more that there are six big teams who have a well marshalled fence around them that they, and teams like Newcastle, can't break into.
Unai Emery says his side are a team to try and beat
Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday's game, Emery spoke about the importance of their win in Europe on Thursday and how that will help them with the 'challenge' of facing Newcastle, before saying that his side are a hard team to beat (via The Chronicle).
“They are performing fantastic, in the Champions League they are doing fantastic, and at home they are feeling confident and strong. How we are facing them, looking at the advantage we have in the table with the points, gives us confidence.
“They started as a contender to be in the top five – we didn’t start as a contender to be in the top five. Now we are. We are a team to try to beat.”
We need to use Unai Emery's words as motivation
Villa are becoming a big force in the Premier League, and Sunday's game is going to be a huge test for Newcastle, but if I were Eddie Howe, I'd be making sure our lads knew what he said at the end there.
It sounded like Emery was throwing down the gauntlet, and we do love to rise to a challenge.
Aston Villa are currently 10 points ahead of us in the league. Let's bring that down to single digits on Sunday.
