Emery Marks Four Years at Villa as Man City Visit Villa Park

Aston Villa host Manchester City at Villa Park on Saturday, and it is the fourth anniversary of Unai Emery's appointment as manager. Emery was appointed on 24 October 2022, and the match kicks off at 12:30 on TNT Sports.

The big test comes against a City side that has not dropped a point this season. Manchester City have won all seven of their games so far, the only perfect record in the Premier League, according to Reuters. Villa have a memory of their own from this fixture. In December 2023 they beat City 1-0 at Villa Park, with Leon Bailey's shot taking a deflection on its way in.

Villa's European form has been strong. They beat Viking 3-1 in the Champions League, the continent's top club competition, and then thrashed Fenerbahce 6-0 at home. Viking's Peter Christiansen scored a late consolation. Three wins from three leaves Villa level on nine points with Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Betis. Under Emery they have now won 12 European home games in a row, according to the BBC.

The squad looks very different from a year ago. Six players who started the Europa League final in Istanbul in May, a 3-0 win over Freiburg, have left the club this summer. Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Digne, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Morgan Rogers all went. Konsa and Rogers moved to Arsenal and Chelsea for a combined £172m, and Villa raised around £320m from summer sales. The BBC has called the new group 'Villa 2.0', a rebuild built around the players who stayed and the ones who came in.

That Europa League win, a second-tier European competition, was the club's first European trophy in 44 years, since their 1982 European Cup triumph. It was also their first trophy since the 1996 League Cup. Villa's supporters marked the Champions League win over Viking with a huge banner on the Holte End reading 'We've Conquered Before. We're Prepared For More'.

For Villa fans, Saturday is a chance to test the new team against the best side in England so far this season. For City, it is a chance to keep their unbeaten start alive at a ground where they have lost before.