'Just as tough as Man City and Arsenal' - Aston Villa camp wary of Sheffield United threat

Unai Emery may have master-minded victories over Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola already this month but he considers Chris Wilder and Sheffield United as being just as difficult a challenge.

Aston Villa beat Arsenal and Man City at the early part of this month as part of their 15-match winning run at Villa Park and the Blades are next up to attempt to bring that sequence to an end.

While victories over the top teams make the headlines, Emery knows that if his side are to maintain a title challenge they are very cleary on at present, then consistency will be the key.

“We are excited and we are very motivated about how we can face the match tomorrow against Sheffield [United]," he said. "My concern for tomorrow with the players is that it’s going to be very difficult to win.

“When we were winning against, more or less, the best teams in the Premier League like Arsenal and Manchester City in the last two matches at home we are now facing the same difficulty against Sheffield as against Arsenal and City.

“We respect them a lot. We are going to try to play being very demanding because they are with a new coach and their situation of being in the bottom of the table. They are going to be very motivated.

“They know we are a very difficult team to beat at Villa Park and we are feeling very strong. For them it’s a great challenge.”

He added: “When we are not playing in our structure and organising our structure with and without the ball, even against the best team or bottom team in the table, we are closer to losing."

Wilder in his press conference on Thursday showed his respect for Villa and what they have achieved so far this season.

“They’ve had 15 wins out of 15 at home so always a tough place to go," he said. "They’re on a fabulous run and an incredibly well coached team with outstanding individuals and an opportunity for them to go top of the division Friday night.

“There’s a lot of issues we’ve got to solve on the night but as we talked about it’s no good getting on the bus if you don’t believe or have confidence in your ability or your team’s ability to go and get a result and that’s how we must approach the game.

“(Emery is) a world-class operator with what he’s achieved and won in Europe and the standing he has in the game and put that work in Villa really quickly and the majority of us are not surprised in terms of the effect the manager has had on that team.”