Aston Villa and Villarreal are set to square off in an exciting exhibition match at Villa Park.
Fresh from dispatching bitter Premier League rivals Chelsea 1-0 in their third mid-season friendly, Aston Villa will be out to gather momentum ahead of their top-flight clash against Liverpool. Unai Emery’s side had endured a false two-game start to their warm-weather preparation (D1, L1), conceding 2+ goals against both Brighton and Cardiff City. However, back at Villa Park, where they thrashed Manchester United and Brentford by an aggregate score of 7-1 ahead of the World Cup break, the ‘Lions’ should feel confident. The improvement under Emery cannot be understated, as he accounts for 50% of Villa’s home league wins this season. Moreover, the ‘Lions’ have scored two goals across their two home league matches under the Spaniard, four more than in five under Steven Gerrard beforehand.
Emery will have an added motive to inspire Villa to another cruising home fixture, as he swapped Villarreal for the Birmingham outfit in November. Despite losing three of his first four competitive matches in charge of ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ without scoring (D1), Emery’s successor Quique Setien steadied the ship on the stroke of the World Cup break. Villarreal followed up a morale-boosting 1-0 La Liga win at Espanyol with a scintillating 9-0 romping of lower-league Santa Amalia in Copa del Rey. However, the Spaniards have delivered a mixed bag of performances during the mid-season halt, losing 2-1 to Fenerbahce before defeating Galatasaray 4-3 last time out. Encouragingly for Setien, his men have clocked up three victories across their four previous road trips (L1), keeping a clean sheet twice in the process.
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