Unai Emery makes 'worried' admission as pressure cranks up on Liverpool boss Arne Slot
Arne Slot’s Liverpool take on Aston Villa in awful form and Unai Emery has now given his take on the pressure that his rival manager is under ahead of Saturday's clash
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery admits he is ‘worried’ about his side as they take on crisis-ridden Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday night. The Reds are in the grips of some woeful form under Arne Slot.
The reigning Premier League champions have lost six out of their last seven games in all competitions - their latest reverse coming in the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Villa boss Emery has found himself in a similar position this season, with the Midlands side having had their own issues. And while they are now back in form, Emery has admitted that he has concerns over whether they can continue matching his demands - starting this weekend against Liverpool.
“We increased our demands in the training sessions and in meetings. I was worried one month ago how we were performing because it was a bad, bad moment and our performances were poor," the Spanish coach said in his pre-match press conference.
“I was so worried. I transmitted to the players my worries and tried to get solutions. We were working hard to come back from the bad form we had.
READ MORE: Every match Liverpool’s injured players could miss in tough spell for Arne SlotREAD MORE: Arne Slot offers explanation for Liverpool slump with Alexander Isak example“Progressively we are getting better. Now is the moment we have one problem if we are relaxing because we are performing better, we can get confused.
“My worry now is to try to be very demanding and keep being consistent like we did the last matches we played. Tomorrow, if we want to be with the level Liverpool have, we have to be so, so demanding, clinical and focused in everything we have to do.”
Liverpool could eventually find themselves in the lower half of the Premier League should they have another adverse result. The Reds’ form has led to suggestions that talks over a new contract for Slot have been put on hold.
What will the score be between Liverpool and Aston Villa? Share your predictions in the comments below
Addressing those suggestions, Slot said: "That was the last question I was expecting. My focus is fully back on getting Liverpool back to winning ways. That's my first answer.
"The second answer is: contract talks - if they are even there - we never speak about this here [in press conferences]. Let us first start to win again. That's where my main focus is on."
Following the clash with Aston Villa, Liverpool will then turn their attention to their next Champions League clash. Real Madrid travel to Anfield next week - a game that will likely see former star Trent Alexander-Arnold return to Merseyside.
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