Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Aston Villa manager Unai Emery as a great manager ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game between both sides.

Pochettino said: “We have a good relationship, he started to coach earlier than me, I was after. I was in Spain in different clubs. He is a great coach, and I have a good relationship with the staff of Aston Villa. It will be good to see him.”

Asked if they’re at an advantage with Villa having played at Legia Warsaw last night in the Europa Conference League, Pochettino also said: “We didn’t deserve to be in the Europa League.

“They have a good squad, they are prepared to compete in Europe. For us, because of the circumstances, against Bournemouth 15 players then we need to use three or four players from the academy. We were talking, we need time. Of course we will be competitive when the moment arrives.”

He added, “Always it is an opportunity. We need to win, we need to keep going, playing well. We need to be more clinical in front of goal and convert chances into goals. That is the most important thing because in all the data we are in top four but after in front of goal we are in the bottom and that is why we don’t have the points that we deserve. Football is about winning games.”