Unai Emery was pleased with Aston Villa’s performance in their 2-2 draw against Liverpool but reflected on the missed opportunity to claim all three points against the Premier League leaders.
Youri Tielemans’ volley and Ollie Watkins’ header turned the game around for the hosts after Mohamed Salah’s opener just before the half-hour mark.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected strike brought Liverpool level in the second half as both sides continued to create chances.
Darwin Nunez missed a close-range chance to put Liverpool ahead, while Jacob Ramsey’s late effort was ruled out for offside. Donyell Malen then fired wide in the dying moments of an action-packed encounter.
Villa matched Liverpool’s intensity and extended their unbeaten home league run to 13 matches since August.
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On his side's performance against the Reds
“I’m happy with the match we played and how we performed.
"We’re in a new era, a new way. We’re not happy drawing at home, of course. We did against Ipswich Town on Saturday and again we repeated with a draw."
“I think the result was fair, because I think both teams were creating chances and sometimes dominating - one team and then another. More or less, over 90 minutes, I think the result is fair."
To put it into context, the Villans had nine shots compared to Liverpool's 17. However, the home side did register more on target (4).
“But, of course, we wanted to win, and the most important thing was we showed until the last minute how we were pushing, how we were attacking, trying to get a third goal.
“We tried until the last moment, but the result is not enough. We can be happy with how we played, how we performed. Some players as well, how they’re progressively getting better with us. And recovering some injured players as well."
Emery and his players have had to endure a tricky period, having to navigate Champions League football whilst playing high level opposition come the weekend.
“We keep going, our focus now is Saturday against Chelsea. At home, we’ve only lost one match against Arsenal in the Premier League. But we’re drawing a lot of matches, and we have to try and get three points.”
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On Garcia's costly error and Villa's playing style
Liverpool’s first goal stemmed from a misplaced pass by Andres Garcia, allowing the visitors to capitalise. However, Emery refused to criticise his player for the mistake and instead pointed to the learning process within the team’s tactical setup.
“It’s the same problem we were having sometimes two years ago but overall trying to analyse and to get better,” he said. “To play dominating and try to get position with the players and start winning matches through it.
“Now, of course, we have to try to avoid mistakes but we have to accept mistakes and try to learn, to get better through it. We conceded one goal like that but I will never punish one action like that in the squad with the players.”
Emery compared Garcia’s error to similar situations involving Boubacar Kamara in the past, highlighting how players have developed over time.
“Always as well, Kamara is performing very well. Last year or two years ago maybe we had three or four mistakes (from Kamara) like today from Andres Garcia but we are always moving forward in the same idea.”
When asked how Villa could reduce such mistakes, Emery acknowledged that errors are a natural part of playing a possession-based game.
“Yes, but every team can have some mistakes like that when they are trying to play with one idea and style. Of course, we are adding a lot of mistakes like that so we need to be more clinical with our analysis but overall in two years, we are building the idea and the structure, getting better.”
Garcia responded well in the second half, continuing to play out from the back despite the earlier error. Emery pointed to a particular moment after the break when Villa successfully bypassed Liverpool’s press.
“Yes, for example in the second half we had one action building up with the high press as well with some risks but we were breaking them and getting in the box with the possibility to score.
“It is more deep, the argument of why we want to try to dominate and to play in this idea.”
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Speaking on his squad depth and options looking ahead to Chelsea
Villa will be without Axel Disasi for Saturday’s game against Chelsea, as the defender is ineligible to face his parent club. Emery acknowledged the setback but remains confident in his squad depth.
“Yes, Axel can’t play on Saturday. We will see as firstly we have Lamare Bogarde and we needed him always when performing well with us, today he played 10 minutes.”
Ezri Konsa is edging closer to a return, while Matty Cash also gained valuable minutes against Liverpool, giving Emery more options ahead of the weekend.
“Konsa is close to coming back, Cash played 20 or 30 minutes. Of course, we have some injured players not available for Saturday but maybe some can come back.
"But we have enough players in the squad to compete, to play and to prepare against Chelsea on Saturday.”
Villa now turn their attention to Chelsea, with Emery determined to build on his side’s strong home form as they continue their push for European qualification.
