Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has defended the decision to make several changes to the line-up for Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spaniard made seven alterations to the starting XI on Sunday, with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semifinal second leg against Nottingham Forest.
Villa are likely to qualify for Europe once again next season, leaving Emery to prioritize the Europa League, where his side must overturn a 1-0 defeat from the first leg.
“Last week we lost against Fulham and which players played against Fulham? We played against Nottingham Forest and we lost. Today we lost with different players”, Emery said.
“Today we faced a team that played fantastically and they competed fantastically. They needed the points and they fought to get it.
“In the first half we didn’t perform well, in the second half we reacted but it was not enough. In 35 games, things are very good and we have the advantage to still be in the top five but we must continue to be demanding.”
Tottenham recorded consecutive wins in the league for the first rime since the opening two weekends of the campaign with only their second Premier League win of 2026.
Conor Gallagher and Richarlison set them up for a huge win, while Emi Buendia’s stoppage time goal for Villa proved too late.
The win also moved them out of the drop zone, with just three games remaining.
“Maybe the points (for Champions League qualification) is not enough and we must try to recover our form and do the things we were doing – there are still three matches to go”, Emery added.
“They (Tottenham) played fantastic, they pressed, they won duels and we were not dominant in individual duels and they beat us.”
Aston Villa’s immediate attention will now shift to Thursday’s clash at Villa Park, where they must overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg to keep their chances of winning the Europa League alive.
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