Town boss Kieran McKenna is a huge admirer of Unai Emery, whose high-flying Aston Villa side visit Portman Road for Sunday’s live Sky game (KO 2pm).

Villa, who qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1982/83 after finishing fourth last season, are currently third in the table having won four of their five Premier League games so far with a second-game 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal the only blemish.

In addition, their European campaign got off to a winning start via a 3-0 away defeat to Swiss side Young Boys and they defeated Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

McKenna says he was a fan of Spaniard Emery even before his success at Villa Park, the two having crossed paths when the Northern Irishman was a first-team coach at Manchester United.
 
“I think he's done a fantastic job,” he said. “I have to say he's a manager that I admire a lot. I've studied his teams for a lot of years.

“Of course, I [when on the staff at Old Trafford] came up against his teams at Arsenal whenever he was manager there and a few times against Villarreal. 
 
“He built a fantastic team at Villarreal with a lot of same sort of ingredients from a technical level as he has with this Aston Villa team. He's built a very good side.

“I really enjoy watching them play. We share some principles in terms of how both teams are set up. But they're executing to a fantastic level at the moment and they have done for the last more than 12 months. 

“It'll be a great test for us. We're looking forward to it. We feel like we know the opposition pretty well. It's up to us now to do everything we can to make it a really difficult game for them.”

McKenna says Emery’s achievements with previously-underachieving-Villa come as little shock to him.
 
“Maybe not surprised, he's done a fantastic job, no doubt about it,” he continued. “I think they have a good squad, good athleticism and good profiles in the squad and had invested well in the squad before Unai arrived.
 
“I think he's proven at so many clubs in his career and I think the job he'd done at Villarreal, I’d say from a tactical point of view there's a lot of similarities between his Aston Villa team and his Villarreal team.

“We came up against him a couple of times and he took them to win the Europa League [in 2021, beating Manchester United then coached by McKenna on penalties in the final] and to deep in the Champions League.

“He showed again the ability to mould a team that can perform really, really well with the ball, a fantastic structure on and off the ball, really, really clear on their patterns of play and how they look to penetrate. 
 
“And I've seen up close how well he's done with that Villarreal team and I think the ingredients that he's put into the Aston Villa team are similar, just probably with a higher athletic calibre of player.
 
“So, no big surprises, top manager, always a good test to have to prepare a team against his sides and a really good challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.

“We've had a good time to prepare for this game, it doesn't make it any easier, but I think everyone's clear with their threats, what we're going to have to do to limit them and also where we think we can go and hurt them and we'll try and impose as much of that as we can on Sunday.”

Villa haven’t been afraid to recruit from the Championship, most notably signing England international striker Ollie Watkins from then-second tier Brentford in the summer of 2020, while McKenna has been impressed with another recruit, Morgan Rogers, who joined from Middlesbrough midway through last season.

The forward opted to join Lincoln on loan from Manchester City rather than the Blues in January 2021 during Paul Lambert’s time as boss and McKenna confirmed he had also tried to sign the former 22-year-old having shown interest the following January and in subsequent windows.
 
“I think Ollie Watkins was on his way to the Premier League anyway. I think he was probably at that level,” McKenna said.

“But I think Morgan Rogers was a fantastic signing, I have to say. A player that we know well. I think we certainly were there or thereabouts to bring him here a couple of times earlier in his years when he was on his loan moves, and he is a player that I've known for a good number of years.
 
“We played against him maybe nine months ago for Middlesbrough and the signing by Aston Villa, how they've improved him, how well he's done, the impact he's having at Premier League level - apart from this weekend - it’s great to see a young player doing so well and a fantastic signing from Aston Villa.

“I think they've recruited really well. Of course, they've invested a lot and invested wisely. And also, very importantly, it's not just the investment, but I think the manager has shown that he consistently improves and gets the best out of the players that he's brought in, and that's why he's doing so well.”

Regarding Watkins, McKenna added: “He's a fantastic striker it's clear what his strengths are. And the team set up to utilise him really, really well.

“He's obviously one of the best strikers in the league, playing on the shoulder of the last defender and running onto through balls, and Aston Villa are the team that plays the most through balls in the league.

“They build up short well and you need to commit bodies to press them high, or else you won't get the ball back.
 
“But when you do that, you're leaving forwards who are good in big spaces and good in one-v-one situations.

“It's pretty clear what they do and he's a big part of that. But it's another thing to stop it with finding the balance of imposing your game and getting the ball off [them], pressurising their build-up to get high regains to try and score goals yourself.

“But also make sure that you're covered enough against the pace and the one-v-one threats they have on the top line.”

The Team

McKenna is unlikely to make too many changes to the team which drew 1-1 at Southampton last week.

Aro Muric will be in goal with Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves again set to be the centre-halves and Axel Tuanzebe, facing his old club, and Leif Davis on the right and left respectively.

Skipper Sam Morsy will be in the centre of midfield with Kalvin Phillips probably returning alongside him for Jens Cajuste, the England international having been back in training today after missing the Saints match due to a minor thigh problem.

Liam Delap will probably be the central striker with McKenna having options behind him but the Blues manager may stick with Wes Burns, Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics, although Jack Clarke and Chiedozie Ogbene will hope to come into the side in the wide roles.

The Opposition

Despite beating Wolves 3-1 at Villa Park last week, manager Emery was critical of his team. At his press conference, he was asked what needed to improve.

“Every match we are playing has been a different plan,” he said. “The game plan is to adapt and impose our game plan.

“Ipswich is different and difficult, like the matches we are playing. We are trying to build a team and get stronger tactically with players. Some are in the process.

“We want to increase our level individually and collectively and it is being positive because we are getting points in this way. But of course we have to improve a lot of things.

“The match against Wolves was very good to analyse deeply. Sometimes we are winning but we are needing to change something to get the result we want.”

Turning to Town, he added: “They are playing really well. Not getting points like they deserve, but they are competitive and they play very well. They played well against Liverpool and Fulham.

“I expect them to play very well on Sunday and we have to compete to adapt to them. They are aggressive in high press, aggressive in duels. The have very good structure to play in combinations with the players they have. The goalkeeper is playing very well and we have to respect them.

“The coach [McKenna] is doing amazing in his work. Tactically they are showing a very good structure. I am analysing deeply their structure for Sunday.”

Villa will be without skipper John McGinn, who has a hamstring injury, while Matty Cash has been out of action for the last month, also with a hamstring issue.

Former Blues defender Tyrone Mings and French international midfielder Boubacar Kamara are continuing their rehab from ACL injuries and won’t be involved against the Blues.

Recent History

Historically, Town have won 19 games between the sides (15 in the league), 15 (13) have ended in draws and Villa have won 26 (22).

The teams last met at Villa Park in January 2019 in the Championship when Freddie Sears netted his sixth goal of the season as Paul Lambert’s relegation-bound Blues were beaten 2-1 at Aston Villa.

However, Town could count themselves unlucky not to have claimed a point after a late fightback in which Trevoh Chalobah struck the post and they were denied a penalty.

Tammy Abraham put the Villans,who would be promoted via the play-offs, in front in the sixth minute, then doubled the lead via a hugely controversial penalty on 61.

Tommy Elphick appeared to handle a goal-bound Collin Quaner effort inside the box before Sears pulled one back on 76 and then Chalobah and Town were denied by the woodwork.

At Portman Road in the previous August, 10-man Town, under Paul Hurst’s management, battled to a 1-1 draw against Villa, Tayo Edun having been harshly sent off for two bookable offences six minutes before the break.

Jonathan Kodjia headed the visitors ahead on 21 but Chalobah equalised with his first senior goal in the 36th minute prior to Edun’s dismissal and the Blues were well worthy of their point during the second half despite the numerical disparity.

Familiar Faces

Blues defender Tuanzebe had three spells on loan with Villa between January and June 2018, August 2018 and June 2019, and August 2021 to January 2022 making a total of 41 starts and five sub appearances.

Villa central defender Mings was with the Blues between December 2012 when he was signed from non-league Chippenham Town. Mings went on to make 49 starts and 15 sub appearances, scoring two goals, before joining AFC Bournemouth for £8 million in June 2015.

Villans wideman Jaden Philogene came close to joining Town in the summer. The former Hull City forward had agreed terms with the Blues and a fee had been set with the Tigers before his previous club Villa came back in for him and completed a deal. So far, Philogene has made only two sub appearances since his move.

Officials

Sunday’s referee is Stuart Attwell, while his assistants and Constantine Hatzidakis and Matthew Wilkes, and the fourth official is Sam Barrott. The VAR official is Darren England and his assistant Adrian Holmes.

Attwell, from Warwickshire, who was the VAR official in the Liverpool match on the opening day, has shown 21 yellow cards and one red in four games so far this season.

His most recent Town game was the 1-0 win at Blackburn in March in which he ruled out three Rovers goals and booked Davis, Massimo Luongo, Kayden Jackson and two home players.

Before that, Attwell was in control of the 2-0 defeat at Bristol City in December 2016 in which he awarded the Robins a controversial penalty, converted by Lee Tomlin, after Bartosz Bialkowski had been adjudged to have fouled Tammy Abraham, and booked two Robins and no Blues.

Three months earlier, he refereed Town’s 1-0 win at Derby in which he showed yellow cards to Christophe Berra, Cole Skuse, Brett Pitman, Luke Varney and no Rams.

Prior to that he was in charge of the 1-0 win at Brighton in December 2015 in which he booked Kevin Bru and one home player.

Before that he was the official taking control of the 1-1 draw at Wolves in April of the same year in which he booked Jay Tabb, Jonny Parr and one home player.

He also refereed the 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday in February 2015 in which he booked only one of the visitors.

Attwell was also the referee during Mick McCarthy’s first game as Town manager, the 1-0 win at Birmingham in November 2012.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the famous snow match against Leicester at Portman Road in December 2010, which the Blues won 3-0 and in which Rory Fallon and one of the visitors were booked.

The previous season, Attwell awarded Town what looked a harsh penalty when Damien Delaney was man-handled as a long throw came into the box in the 1-1 draw with West Brom at Portman Road, Grant Leadbitter, who was also booked along with Arran Lee-Barrett and three of the visitors, netting the spot-kick.

Attwell’s first Town match was the 3-1 win at QPR in February 2009 in which Ben Thatcher was the only player yellow-carded.

Squad From

Muric, Walton, Gray, Johnson, Townsend, Davis, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Phillips, Cajuste, Morsy (c), Luongo, Taylor, Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodics, J Clarke, Broadhead, Burns, Ogbene, Al-Hamadi, Delap, Hirst.

TWTD

Swoody added 20:08 - Sep 27 It's a shame Tyrone Mings is not playing would have been good to see him back at Portman Road.
1

wedgieblue added 20:12 - Sep 27 This is going to be a great test for us. A mark of how we’ve progressed in the short time in the prem. villa are a strong side but do have a soft underbelly on the road. We’ll get at them and as long as we don’t leave ourselves too exposed who knows this may be our first win… can’t see us losing so may be a draw… Make sure we crank up the noise, the 11 on the pitch will give everything us in the stands need to do so the same…!! COYB…!!

6

victorysquad added 20:59 - Sep 27 The time has come to chalk up our first win. We have to want it more than them, outthink them, outrun them, and out battle them.
0

carlgibbs13 added 08:08 - Sep 28 I can’t see us getting anything from this game except some great experience. As long as we give a good account of ourselves and keep improving. COYB.
0

churchmans added 08:47 - Sep 28 I would be happy to get a draw here!
0

FreddySteady added 10:47 - Sep 28 Still haven’t got over ‘81!
1

Mike44 added 13:00 - Sep 28 But I remember 62! Crawford 2 Villa 0... Champions!
2

carlo88 added 17:15 - Sep 28 Draw puts into 15th...
0

Linkboy13 added 20:17 - Sep 28 Phillips injury was a big blow last week Southampton were there for the taking we will need him tomorrow if we are going to get anything from the game.
0

dirtydingusmagee added 21:14 - Sep 28 i agree Churchmans , I keep looking at the fixtures , and struggle a bit to see where wins will come from to be honest, there will be wins no doubt but we need to be prepared for a hard time ahead ,Survival is the target i'd be chuffed with 17th after last match of season ,anything better would be a bonus . COYB
1

Nomore4 added 08:20 - Sep 29 1st win incoming
0

Gazelle added 09:07 - Sep 29 Villa have had a relatively easy season so far playing only one of the top ten
0

IpswichT62OldBoy added 10:11 - Sep 29 The programme cover looks fantastic, actual art.
0

Ebantiass added 12:57 - Sep 29 Would love to see us really battle for something today, villa don't travel very well and like the first half at southampton could be there for the taking. Not to underestimate them as they have fantastic firepower up front, but who knows!!! We really have to get three points on the board somehow and villa are as good any other side coming to PR. With the entire bluearmy behind them We could win this.

0

Blogs 297 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls