Emery, Villa manager, impressed by Ipswich's form

Emery has been thoroughly impressed by the performance of the Premier League newcomers this season.

He said, "We are thinking only about the next match, which is Ipswich. I can repeat from the beginning of the season in the pre-season how important every match is that we’re playing.

“The last two years, we got Conference League with a one point difference with Brentford and last year we got Champions League with a two point difference to Tottenham.

“One point, two points, three points - we are playing for something in every match we are facing. At the end of the season, we don’t want to remind ourselves of some moments when we weren’t focussed on those points.

“We are thinking only about Ipswich Town and respecting them a lot. We are not thinking about the next match or the next week. 

“They are playing very well. They’re not getting points like they deserve, but they are being competitive.

“They played against Liverpool at home and lost, but they were playing very well. They drew against Fulham at home and played very well. They drew the last two matches against Brighton and Southampton, playing very well.

“My expectation for Sunday is that they will play very well and we have to compete to adapt to them and stop them because they’re aggressive in their high press and their duels.

“They have a very good structure to play in combination with the players they have. The goalkeeper is playing very well and we have to respect them because they deserved to be promoted last season to the Premier League. Their coach is doing amazing work and tactically they are showing a very good structure.

“I am working deeply, analysing them and trying to set our structure on the field on Sunday to be competitive.”