Soccer Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Crystal Palace - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - November 23, 2024 Aston Villa manager Unai Emery and Ian Maatsen react REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo
(Reuters) - Aston Villa are on a six-match winless run ahead of their Champions League home game against Juventus but manager Unai Emery on Tuesday refused to blame the packed schedule for their dip in form.
Villa's winless streak in all competitions led to them crashing out of the League Cup and dropping to eighth in the Premier League standings. They are also eighth in the Champions League table at the halfway point in the group stage.
With nine more games until the new year, Villa welcome a Juventus side unbeaten in Serie A and two points behind them in the Champions League where the top eight sides automatically qualify for the knockout stages.
"Last year we had experience with the Conference League, we juggled a lot. We want to play a lot of matches and hopefully, we will play until the last month of the season," Emery told reporters ahead of Wednesday's game.
"The Champions League is the best competition in the world. We are managing each match and more or less being consistent in the preparation and being consistent in the idea of building a team.
"Tomorrow is a very important three points but even if we don't win, taking one point is good because in the table we are in the top eight positions. We want to be in the next round and tomorrow if we win maybe we can be a contender to get it."
Juve have been tough to break down in Serie A where they have the best defensive record and Emery praised Thiago Motta for how he is shaping the Italian side.
"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 as a coach he has started being successful," Emery said.
"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 without the ball... They are building a team, trying to keep consistency and dominating matches with the ball but defensively trying to be strong positionally."
Villa are also dealing with injury concerns but Emery said Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara will be available while Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey miss out.
Onana sat out the weekend's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace due to injury while Ramsey is still nursing a knock sustained in a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool before the international break.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
