Every decision you make can massively influence future events. One inspired idea or one miscalculated step – it can define your life. So is in football, too. Just over a year ago, then-Villarreal boss Unai Emery declined the offer to become the next Newcastle United coach, leaving the relegation-threatened black and whites to turn to the next best thing – out-of-work Eddie Howe.Fast forward to April 2023, and sixth-placed Villa host Champions League-chasing Magpies. In the last couple of years, whenever these teams met, at least one of them was looking down in fear of possible relegation. But this time, both sets of fans are loving life, thankful for the upturn in their teams’ fortunes. And the men who deserve all the credit are Emery and Howe.Last 10 games:Unai Emery : 6w, 1d, 3l, 18gf, 13ga, 19pts, 1.9ppm,5 clean sheetsOn a 4-game winning streakEddie Howe: 5w, 3d, 2l, 15gf, 10ga, 18pts, 1.8ppm,1 clean sheetOn a 5-game winning streakOf the 13 goals Aston Villa have conceded, 11 have been over 3 games🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/QQfCRrGbWr— 🦅Jotaro🦅 (@Jotaro61) April 13, 2023 Former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain tactician Emery arrived in Birmingham in October, just a few days too soon to lead the team in the reverse fixture. That time, Newcastle beat Villa 4-0 at St. James’ Park, underlining their ambitions and showing how poor Villa have become under Steven Gerrard. But Emery has done a fantastic job in the meantime – and Villa are just two points behind the fifth-placed Tottenham, who occupy the last European slot. It’s a remarkable turnaround.A win over Newcastle United will see Emery become the first manager to oversee five Premier League wins in a row since John Gregory in 1998. That’s quite an achievement already. The guy who rejected Newcastle’s wealthy owners knows what he’s doing.”I appreciated the offer and was thankful but in football a lot of things happen, the circumstances. I want to make us progressively stronger and stronger. We are always focusing on adding something to improve us, with adding players, or a new mentality. I can’t stop – I don’t want players relaxing, if I see it, I will change it. I have experiences and I’m so happy. But I don’t want to waste time here – I enjoy working and I want everyone else to make the same move. I want everyone to be united in our commitment to get better.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7180229##Meanwhile, Newcastle are on a run of five wins in a row and are competing with Manchester United and Tottenham to remain in the top four and qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League. But Howe refused to talk about the fans’ desire to play in the elite European competition. The approach of taking it game by game without looking too far ahead has proved right so far.”I think there’s a growing belief that we’re getting back to our best form after a difficult period around January when we were a bit frustrated with ourselves. The Wolves win was a big moment for us and we’ve backed that up with wins against Manchester United, West Ham United and Brentford.”It’s shaping up to be a great match between two high-flying teams and two inspired tacticians at Villa Park.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 31Saturday14.30: (3.40) Aston Villa (3.50) Newcastle (2.30)17.00: (2.85) Southampton (3.00) Crystal Palace (2.81)17.00: (2.73) Chelsea (3.20) Brighton (2.75)17.00: (2.16) Everton (3.45) Fulham (3.90)17.00: (1.53) Tottenham (4.30) Bournemouth (6.50)17.00: (2.60) Wolverhampton (3.05) Brentford (2.75)19.30: (1.20) Man.City (9.00) Leicester (15.0)Sunday16.00: (6.25) West Ham (4.10) Arsenal (1.63)18.30: (4.90) Nott.Forest (3.60) Man.Utd. (1.79)Monday21:00: (4.70) Leeds (3.75) Liverpool (1.79)***odds are subject to change
