Chris Sutton makes ‘enormous’ Aston Villa admission ahead of PSG showdown
Chris Sutton is looking forward to the UEFA Champions League tie between Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain.
Aston Villa lock horns with Nottingham Forest at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday (5 April), but will have one eye on their trip to the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, 9 April.
With the second leg of the quarter-final scheduled at Villa Park on 15 April, Unai Emery will be determined to ensure they keep damage to a minimum at PSG in the first leg.
The Birmingham-based club will be aware of the threats posed by PSG, who beat Liverpool on penalties at Anfield to book their place in the last-eight.
Sutton previews Aston Villa v PSG
Looking ahead to the tie, Sutton insisted that Aston Villa have their work cut out for them as he views PSG as the favourites to win the Champions League this season.
However, the Sky Sports pundit pointed out how Emery’s squad is looking strong at the moment, with unavailable players also returning to the fold.
| Opposition | Venue | Round | Result |
| Young Boys | A | Group | 3-0 win |
| Bayern Munich | H | Group | 1-0 win |
| Bologna | H | Group | 2-0 win |
| Club Brugge | A | Group | 1-0 loss |
| Juventus | H | Group | 0-0 draw |
| RB Leipzig | A | Group | 3-2 win |
| Monaco | A | Group | 1-0 loss |
| Celtic | H | Group | 4-2 win |
| Club Brugge | A | Last-16 first leg | 3-1 win |
| Club Brugge | H | Last-16 second leg | 3-0 win (6-1 agg.) |
Sutton also admitted that he has been blown away by the “enormous” impact Villa’s winter signings Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen have had.
He, therefore, believes the Villa Park outfit are capable of causing an upset over Luis Enrique’s side in the Champions League.
“In the form they are in, they are getting players back from injury”, Sutton said on BBC Football Focus (5 April, 12:54 pm).
“The squad… You just mentioned the England Women’s squad, the Aston Villa squad are now strong with all these players coming back.
“Rashford on fire, Asensio on fire, Malen… They all scored in the week against Brighton.
“Look, I still think they’ve got their work cut out, I’ve got PSG down as favourites for the whole tournament.
“For them to get past Liverpool in the manner which they did, that was really, really impressive, but you just don’t know.
“Villa, I think they have won their last six in all competitions, and I mentioned players who they have signed, they have really made an enormous impact on Villa kicking on now.”
Emery eye upset over PSG
Aston Villa have made strides forward since appointing Emery as their manager in 2022.
The fact that the Birmingham-based club are in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup, respectively, seems remarkable, considering they were struggling under Steven Gerrard not so long ago.
However, Emery will be determined to take Villa to greater heights and there is no doubt that fans will relish the chance to see the team test themselves against a European giant like PSG.
The Spanish tactician managed the Ligue 1 giants for two years between 2016 and 2018, and will be optimistic about his chance of causing an upset against them.