Patrick Vieira is not surprised by Unai Emery's ability to turn things around at Aston Villa.
The Eagles make the trip to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon looking to pick up their first win of 2023 and increase the gap between themselves and the bottom three which currently sits at six points.
Villa, who are four points and one place above Palace, have looked a different outfit since Emery succeeded Steven Gerrard last October.
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In his time in charge, Emery has masterminded wins over Manchester United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as narrowly losing to league leaders Arsenal after conceding twice in the final few minutes.
For Vieira, the former Arsenal manager's impact with Villa shouldn't be a surprise to anyone given the clubs he has managed across Europe while adding there are positives to take from his team's performance against Liverpool last week - a 0-0 stalemate.
“I am not surprised at all [by Emery’s impact], looking at the experience he had and the teams he managed,” he said. “He is one of the quality managers in the Premier League and I'm not surprised he is doing well at Villa.
“It’s been really challenging. It’s a tough run, but you have to play those teams. It is difficult, of course, one after the other, but I strongly believe there are no easy games in the Premier League – especially when every point is important.
“We have to focus on ourselves, how we can improve between the Liverpool and Villa games. There were a lot of positives to take from Liverpool to challenge ourselves, to build confidence and to perform.”
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