Emery counting on Conference League experience as schedule bites at Villa

Aston Villa may be winless for six games ahead of their Champions League clash with Juventus, but Unai Emery has refused to blame their slump on a packed fixture list.

Villa's winless streak has seen them crash out of the EFL Cup and drop to eighth in the Premier League, with only a late Ross Barkley header saving a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Emery's men also saw their perfect Champions League start halted by a shock 1-0 defeat to Club Brugge on matchday four, leaving them eighth in the 36-team table.

Villa still have nine games to play before the turn of the year, with the first at home against a Juve team leaving them one point behind in the standings.

However, Emery says they cannot blame their loss of form on a build-up of fixtures, especially after juggling their domestic and Europa Conference League commitments last season.

“Last year we had experience with the Conference League, we juggled a lot. We want to play a lot of games and hopefully we will keep playing until the last month of the season,” said Emery.

“The Champions League is the best competition in the world. We manage every match and are more or less consistent in the preparation and consistent in the idea of ​​​​building a team.

“Tomorrow it will be very important three points, but even if we don't win, getting one point is good because in the rankings we are in the top eight.

“We want to be in the next round and if we win tomorrow we might be a contender to win it.”

Villa have beaten Bayern Munich and Bologna in their first two Champions League home games, and they could now become only the third English club to win their first three home games in the competition, after Tottenham in 2010 and Leicester City in 2016.

They kept a clean sheet in both matches, with AC Milan in 1992-93 being the only team to ever win their first three home games in the Champions League without conceding.

However, Juve have also been difficult to beat under Thiago Motta, with Serie A's best defensive record, and Emery knows Villa will have to make the most of their opportunities.

“He was very competitive as a player, he was very intelligent, he was a top player. Physically he was strong, mentally he was strong and now he has become successful as a coach,” said Emery, who coached Motta when he was a player. midfielder at Paris Saint-Germain, added.

“I appreciate him as a person, I appreciate him as a player and now I appreciate him as a manager.

“They are very strong defensively, not only with the ball but also without the ball… They are building a team, trying to maintain consistency and dominate games with the ball, but defensively they are trying to be positionally strong.”

Villa are also dealing with injury problems, but Emery said Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara will be available with Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey missing.

Onana missed the weekend's draw against Palace due to injury, while Ramsey is still nursing a blow suffered in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool before the international break.