Managers Preview: Nuno wants to score more and Emery wants to concede less

Unai Emery and Nuno Espírito Santo give their views ahead of Wolves v Arsenal clash

This is a massive game for both Wolves and us but for very different reasons. We are fighting to maintain our top four challenge and Wolves are looking to finish seventh and do not kid yourselves that is not important to the Wanderers, it really is.

Emery is having to lift his players following the abject defeat to Crystal Palace at the Emirates and Nuno is still trying to get his players back to the way they were prior to their devastating loss to Watford in the FA Cup semi-final.

Emery has reiterated that top-four is still within our hands and that if we play with heart and intelligence we will win. “We have it in our hands. At the beginning of the season, after winter, we struggled in the table. We were [in a lower] position than we are in now” Emery said. “On Sunday, we know some details we lost and they used these details to score. But our way is not changing. We are on a way at the end of the season with a big possibility to take our first target.”

“We need to continue being proud of our season and knowing the key moments are now. Tomorrow is also a big moment and a big match for us, a big challenge because we are playing against a team who feel strong with their supporters. But it’s a good moment to try to do all we can, with intelligence. We need to be clear, we need to play with heart but above all being clear in our minds.”

For his part, Nuno knows what to expect from Arsenal, he feels that his team just needs to improve in one area and that is in front of the goal. “It will be totally different. Every game is a new game, nothing repeats in football. What happened against Brighton is difficult to explain, our team, how dominant we were, but we were not able to find the net. That’s the only issue that we had to improve regarding Wednesday.” Nuno said. “We’ve looked at the positives and negatives. One of those was clearly the final touch, and we have confidence in our players, we totally trust them. What we expect tomorrow is the talent, based on our organisation, to achieve a good performance.”

“We are ready to compete against all opponents. We look at Arsenal, we know it’s a strong team, with good players and a good manager, and it’s going to be a tough challenge, but we are ready for it. The strength of Arsenal is their team, the movements, the idea they have. It’s a very good team.

“We enjoy playing every game, we don’t know how the other team will behave, their tactics, but we are ready. Since the beginning, we’ve tried to build something able to adapt to all the circumstances of the game. It’s a game of questions that you must answer in the proper way.”

So, two managers with the same issue really, instilling belief in their players that they can bounce back from disappointing weekend games and with the right improvements in key areas, they both feel they will get the win.

It is going to be an exciting game and hopefully a winning one for us.