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Marc Albrighton 'not surprised' as Aston Villa favourite delivers honest verdict
Marc Albrighton is not surprised by Aston Villa's drop in form compared to last season and believes expectations of Unai Emery's side should be tempered.
Villa currently sit in ninth position in the Premier League after 11 matches, but are only one point from third heading into Saturday's home clash against Crystal Palace. They made a brilliant start to the campaign, winning five of their first nine league games and their opening three Champions League fixtures, but lost four on the bounce in all competitions before the November international break.
Albrighton, who joined Leicester following his exit from Villa, played in the Champions League the season after lifting the Premier League title with the Foxes. He spoke to talkSPORT about how difficult it can be to balance both competitions.
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"We struggled that year when we were in the Champions League and I think a lot of it is the travelling, it takes it out of you," he said. "The quality of opposition as well. The Championship is two games a week, but doing it in the Premier League and Champions League, it is completely different. The quality of the opposition is the best in Europe.
"The highs were so high that season, like beating Sevilla was incredible, playing against Atletico and winning group games. To then pick yourself up and go again at the weekend, it was difficult.
"We weren’t the only club who have struggled with it. I look at Newcastle, they did the same and Villa are no different. I’m not surprised to see Villa dip in form. I think expectation levels have got to be sort of balanced out a little bit.
"They’ve had an unbelievable 18 months to two years and I think you’ve just got to balance everything out, you’ve got to enjoy it.
"Enjoy the moment, enjoy the games that they’re playing in, the trips away but at the same time I think they’ve just got to like steady the ship a little bit and yeah, just get back to get back to the basics and try and utilise that squad a little bit."
