Unai Emery warns Aston Villa are not top four contenders in Premier League

Unai Emery believes that Aston Villa should not be under pressure to replicate their unexpected top four finish in the Premier League from last season.

Emery’s side are looking forward to their first Champions League campaign since 1982-83 after unexpectedly finishing fourth in the top-flight last season.

But the Spaniard tried to cool expectations of another top four finish this term ahead of Villa’s Premier League opener at West Ham on Aug 17.

Emery believes seven teams are better placed to battle it out for the top four, naming Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle.

“We’re not contenders to be in the top four. We’re not starting being contenders to be in the top five,” Emery told reporters on Aug 16.

“There are seven teams who are contenders more than us. They have more capacity than us and we are trying to develop in every direction we can do.

“We are trying to reduce the distance to those teams and we are doing it, but there are still seven teams with more capacity than us at the beginning of the season.”