Unai Emery: Aston Villa will still start next season behind Man Utd, Tottenham

Speaking ahead of Villa's crucial clash with United on Sunday, Emery cautioned against reading too much into the current league table.

While Tottenham recently lifted the Europa League trophy, their domestic form has faltered. United, meanwhile, are enduring a disastrous campaign, sitting 16th in the Premier League and set to miss out on European competition altogether after Wednesday's defeat in the Europa League final.

In contrast, Villa are flying high. A win on Sunday would confirm a top-five finish and put them on course for Champions League qualification for a second successive season - a remarkable achievement under Emery's guidance. It would also leave them 30 points clear of United, a gap unthinkable for over 30 years.

"The greatness is still there and the capacity to start next season being a contender more than us in the Premier League will be too," said Emery.

"Tottenham and Manchester United are both teams always when we are starting are contenders in front of us.

"Of course, we are being demanding, ambitious, consistent to try and compete there as well.

"We achieved it two years ago, we achieved it last year and this year again we are going to be in front of them and in Europe.

"But of course, there are other ways to try and get performances, through getting a trophy like Tottenham did and through that trophy to play in the Champions League.

"They achieved their objective. They showed their capacity and power through another competition, being in Europe.

"In the Premier League they lost in their process points and the capacity to respond because they were focusing more on Europe. But next year, we are going to start behind those teams again." 

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