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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has admitted he was “so worried” about his side’s form earlier in the season ahead of today’s game against Liverpool.
The Reds host Villa at Anfield today, with the pressure on Arne Slot’s side to end a dismal run of form that has seen them lose six of their last seven games in all competitions, and each of their last four Premier League games.
That run has placed the pressure on Slot, who has faced criticism after naming such a young side against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup in midweek. Although the Liverpool boss’ job is not thought to be under threat at the moment, a fifth straight league defeat might well end his side’s title defense early.
The Reds’ form this season is almost the exact opposite of today’s opponents. Villa began the campaign in awful fashion, picking up no wins in their first five league games and scoring just once in that time.
Since then, they have picked up four straight wins to move level on points with Liverpool, much to the relief of Emery.
“We increased our demands in the training sessions and in meetings. I was worried one month ago how we were performing because it was a bad, bad moment and our performances were poor," Emery said ahead of today’s game.
“I was so worried. I transmitted to the players my worries and tried to get solutions. We were working hard to come back from the bad form we had.
“Progressively we are getting better. Now is the moment we have one problem if we are relaxing because we are performing better, we can get confused.
“My worry now is to try to be very demanding and keep being consistent like we did the last matches we played.
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“Tomorrow, if we want to be with the level Liverpool have, we have to be so, so demanding, clinical and focused in everything we have to do.”
Liverpool.com says: It really does feel like today could be a perfect storm for Liverpool.
The Reds are in no kind of form, Villa have been picking up wins - it’s absolutely not the sort of game Liverpool fans would have been hoping for at this point.
If ever Slot and his players are going to rediscover some form though, today would be the perfect time. Put simply, they just have to win today.
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