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Unai Emery makes Liverpool point after watching Aston Villa drop points in Premier League

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery.
-Credit: (Image: Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)


Unai Emery is braced for a crunch clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but it comes hot on the heels of a surprise result against Ipswich Town at Portman Road. Aston Villa was held to a draw after Liam Delap's double pulled the rug from under it and now the Villans must regroup swiftly for their huge midweek European encounter.

Asked if Aston Villa could find the energy for its next game, Emery joked: "No, we'll call it off!" The head coach reflected on his ambitions and the grueling fixture list, saying: "Do we want to play in Europe? What do we want? We want to play on a Sunday and Wednesday, and reach the same level as Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool."

He added: "It's not easy, but if you don't want it, we can get comfortable in the top 10 if that is enough." Gritting his teeth at the late leveler by Delap which earned Ipswich their fourth straight draw, Emery didn't conceal his disappointment with Villa's second-half performance.

Arne Slot was right with Liverpool warning and sorry Man Utd just proved it 'I only left Everton this summer but I love Arne Slot and would consider signing for Liverpool'

He admitted: "I am not happy with the point but I have to accept it because I think it is fair. I wanted us to finish strongly and we didn't do that." Analyzing further, he shared: "We were better in the first half, the second half we lost our concentration, and the consequences happened because they scored and they could have scored one more."

Kieran McKenna of Ipswich expressed cautious satisfaction, stating: "We created the better chances, but when you come back from 2-1 down a point is a good result. Four games unbeaten and we just need to keep going. The only two teams to beat us are Man City and Liverpool in the first two weeks when we where coming together as a group. We are doing a lot of the right things."

McKenna heaped praise on Delap, saying: "He can be proud of the impact he has had and his all-round play. He has shown he can impact the game and to have so much growth left in him, we are rally happy to have him here."

Liverpool.com says: Aston Villa should be aiming to get back into the Champions League this season and Emery's squad definitely hs enough to make that happen. The question is in terms of depth, but you could say that about Liverpool too. Both sides will need some good fortune at times during this campaign when it comes to injuries.