Arsenal are set to face Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday as they aim to keep their place at the top of the Premier League, but it will not be easy.
Mikel Arteta’s side will head into the fixture just days after being frustrated in a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, and will have one eye on the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie next week.
They will be facing an Aston Villa side chasing a top-four spot under Unai Emery, and this is the first time the Spaniard will be at the Emirates in front of a full crowd since he was dismissed from his role in November 2019, prior to Arteta’s arrival.
Arsenal struck gold when they decided to replace Emery with Arteta, but Emery has had his revenge with two different clubs now, and will be aiming to spoil Arsenal’s mood as he returns to North London, and the Gunners do have a concerning record against his teams.
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Arsenal have only beaten Unai Emery once in six attempts
Aston Villa are the third club Emery has faced Arsenal with, but he will be confident that he knows how to stop Arteta’s side, as he has done before.
Emery first faced Arsenal in September 2016, when he had just joined Paris Saint-Germain from Sevilla.
A 1-1 draw at the Parc Des Princes saw Edinson Cavani and Alexis Sanchez score, before a 2-2 return at the Emirates meant that PSG were in the driving seat to qualify as group winners ahead of Arsenal in the Champions League, but Arsene Wenger’s side eventually overtook them in the final group game.
Emery joined La Liga side Villarreal after his failure at Arsenal, and the two sides faced each other when stadiums were empty in the Europa League semi-finals in 2021.
Arsenal lost 2-1 at Villarreal, with Bukayo Saka salvaging an away goal, but they could not capitalise on this as Arteta’s side drew 0-0 at home, and Emery would go on to beat Manchester United in the final.
Arteta has since faced Emery twice at Villa Park after he returned to England last season, recording Arsenal’s only win against him with a dramatic 4-2 comeback victory, with Jorginho scoring a last-minute winner, but then lost 1-0 earlier this season.
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Emery was a disaster at Arsenal, but his strengths lie in tactically setting his team up based on what the opposition will do.
Arsenal will need to be wary of Villa on the counter-attack, and Emery will be very aware of how strong Arteta’s side currently are, but he will also have studied them in great detail to try and find any flaw to exploit.
The Spaniard has found success at Aston Villa and Villarreal, and rebuilt his reputation after what was a nightmare time at the Emirates, and he will hope to silence the Arsenal fans who previously booed him.