Aston Villa's progress under manager Unai Emery has been remarkable, says his successor at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, before the meeting of the two teams from the English football championship, reported Topsport.
"Unai's work has a huge impact on the performance of the team as a whole. They even still play in the European club tournaments, they had a game yesterday. I'm really impressed with what they're doing," Arteta said, as quoted by Reuters.
Villa finished seventh last season, their first top 10 finish since 2011. Birmingham are currently sixth, 11 points behind Arsenal. Emery made his 1,000th game as a coach in yesterday's win against Lille.
"This is amazing. He has been successful in so many countries and with so many different teams. I respect him a lot and I wish him all the best, but after Sunday," continued Arteta
"For us, every match is key for our future. That being said, we are looking at the season game by game. Only this can keep us focused on the goals we are pursuing".