Arsenal face a home clash against top four hopefuls Aston Villa on Sunday, and manager Mikel Arteta has spoken in the highest terms of his predecessor and current Villa boss Unai Emery.

Emery was Arsenal's manager from 2018 to 2019 and, after a successful stint with Villarreal, the Spaniard is now in charge at Villa Park.

Reflecting on the job that his compatriot has done so far with the Villains, Arteta spoke in glowing terms:

"Obviously he’s from very close to my hometown and I have huge admiration for him and his respect. I wish him the best after Sunday, but what is doing is really impressive."

He continued: "What they’ve done since Unai came in. He's made a huge impact at the club in terms of performances and consistency, it’s unbelievable what they are doing.

"They’re still in European competition and they played last night so its really impressive with what they’ve done."

On Thursday, Emery reached his 1000th game in management, and Arteta was asked about the achievement, and said:

"It’s unbelievable and he's done it in so many different countries, in so many different contexts and has been incredibly successful."

  • Playing after title rivals

Manchester City face Luton Town at home on Saturday afternoon, while Liverpool play Crystal Palace at home in the early game on Sunday, meaning that Arsenal will know exactly where they stand by the time they kickoff against Aston Villa.

When asked about this, Arteta insisted that he does not see an issue in playing last out of the title hopefuls:

"We will know the results but we’ll still have our duty to win our game which is the only thing that we can control.

"That’s happened a few times already and it’s going to happen again in the next few weeks, so we’ll just focus on what we can do, what we can control and make sure that we perform like we have to do against a really good side to try to beat them."

After a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, which offered plenty of positives and negatives, Arteta spoke about the lessons that the players can take from the game:

"I think there’s a lot to take, especially how we emotionally managed the game by being very dominant and ahead, and within 15 minutes you are behind against a top side.

"You have to deal with that game emotionally which is really tough to do. I think the team did brilliantly to manage that situation. It’s half-time and there’s everything to play for in Munich."

Arteta also summarised his own, brief, takings from the game:

"Reflection done, Bayern gone. Now it’s Aston Villa - we’re only focusing on Aston Villa."

  • Jurrien Timber's return

Jurrien Timber has been sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury since August, but is now in full training as his comeback edges ever closer.

With fans hotly anticipating the Dutch defender's return, Arteta offered a positive update:

"He’s still got a few steps to make. He needs to play a game, at least with the under-21s and he’s going to have an in-house game soon as well.

"He's done everything in training, now it’s getting that match fitness and having people around him to start competing in a full match which is different to training."

He also spoke on the impact that he hopes the 22-year-old can have on the team after his return:

"Hopefully a lot. Everything that we've seen training and in the time he was fit, I think he's going to have a big impact on the team."

  • Momentum and pressure

Arsenal are in terrific form, having remained unbeaten in the Premier League so far in 2024, and Arteta showed his delight at such momentum:

"It’s really good and we want to carry on going. It's the most beautiful part of the season coming up right now and a very busy schedule.

"We’re going to have a really tough [game] against a really good side, and are we going to have to be really good to beat them."

When asked how the players are dealing with the current pressure on them, Arteta showed little concern:

"I think it is just motivation. I think they’ve lived it already and they are super excited about what we are doing and the way the team is performing, winning matches and they want more. We know the task, the challenge ahead of us and how good we have to be to win it, but we're going to try."

  • Aston Villa's absences

The Villains currently have several first-team players unavailable for the Arsenal game, including Boubacar Kamara (knee) and Douglas Luiz (suspended) among others, and Arteta spoke about this advantage for the Gunners:

"We always try to use things to our advantage. We don’t know what they are going to do and that’s nothing we can control.

"They still won last night and they are a really good side, so we know the danger and we know our strengths as well, and we’ll try to do what we have to do to win."