Unai Emery fires amazing Leeds United warning and picks out Whites player for comment

Emery will take in his eighth game in charge of Villa in Friday night's Premier League showdown which Villa approach sat 11th in the table and five points ahead of 14th-placed Leeds. Emery has lost just one of his five league games in charge of Villa but has explained the difficulty he expects in facing Leeds and has highlighted in-form Whites striker Rodrigo as a particular threat.

“They are a very difficult team because they have very good players," said Emery at his pre-match press conference. "They push a lot and the drew with Newcastle, playing a very good match in being so ,so competitive.

“They lost against Tottenham 4-3 (in November) but playing really well and they were winning for the first 80 minutes and it’s an example of how competitive they are. Tomorrow I’m expecting to play a difficult team. We need to avoid their pressing because their counter-pressing is amazing and they have fast players. They have a very good striker in Rodrigo, he’s in a very good moment. They’re challenging.”