Aston Villa are set to face Premier League leaders Arsenal for the second time in the space of 24 days
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery admits he is confused by the fixture list his side are playing over the festive period.
Without complaining about the schedule itself – including match times and the tight turnaround between games – the Villa boss is puzzled as to why his side will only have faced 18 different clubs in the first half of the season.
Nottingham Forest travel to Villa Park on matchday 20 this coming weekend, after Villa play Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday night. That fixture will round off the first half of the Premier League season as Villa’s 19th match.
Villa defeated Arsenal 2–1 at home earlier this month, with Emi Buendía scoring the winner with the last kick of the game.
Half of the Premier League teams will play twice away from home between Christmas and New Year, with Villa being one of them.
Facing Chelsea and Arsenal on the road is arguably the trickiest run of fixtures any team will face during this period, but Emery is not using that as an excuse.
“We must accept it, because it is not in our hands,” he said about the fairness of the festive fixture list Villa have.
“The only thing I don’t understand is why we are playing after Arsenal, Nottingham Forest at home.
“The day 19 is not against Forest, which is the first half of the season. This is the only thing I don’t understand.
“The circumstances which are not in our hands, we must accept it and keep going.”
This is the fourth time Aston Villa have faced an opponent twice in the same month in the Premier League, after May 2022, May 2021, and March 1996.
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