Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has suggested that he is intrigued over how his side will face up to the challenge of playing Premier League leaders Liverpool.
The West Midlands outfit have enjoyed their first-ever campaign in the Champions League, already booking their place in the last 16 of the competition.
However, prevailing from just three of their last 10 fixtures in England's top flight has left Villa sitting in ninth position in the standings.
Next up for Villa is a showdown with Liverpool on Wednesday night, Emery's side having the chance to move within three points of the top four.
Nevertheless, the Spaniard has claimed that his players will be taking on their "biggest challenge" between now and the end of the campaign.
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What has Emery said on Liverpool?
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Emery said: "For me as a coach it is a big challenge, a challenge to how we can collectively set our game plan against them. It's the most difficult match we are going to play for the last weeks and months.
"Liverpool are the best team in the Premier League and Europe. Our challenge is to how we face them and respond with our qualities and how we play at this level.
"We are excited and hopefully we can share our excited moments with our fans at Villa Park."
He added: "We had enough chances against Ipswich, it was not enough but we analyse with the players and we are speaking about how we can respond for the next matches," said Emery.
"We are being positive but we are excited and we are performing in the right direction. We need more points in case we want to achieve the biggest demand and objective we can have, which is to be in the Champions League."
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Villa injury news
Tyrone Mings made a welcome return from a knee injury against Ipswich Town, playing from the 16th minute onwards after Boubacar Kamara had suffered a hamstring injury.
Emery has suggested that the Frenchman will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, Mings seemingly in line to partner Axel Disasi in the centre of defence.
The fitness of Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash and Leon Bailey will be assessed on Wednesday morning after the trio all missed the Ipswich fixture.
Darren Plant
