Gary Neville tips Aston Villa for top six finish

Villa went from strugglers to European qualifiers following the arrival of the Spaniard last season.

He turned around the club's fortunes and now they are set to embark on a campaign in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

And after a summer of successful business, Neville has backed Villa to succeed again.

Talking on his Sky podcast, The Overlap, the former Manchester United full back said: "Unai Emery is a brilliant manager. He was brilliant first time round when he went to Arsenal but sometimes things don’t work.

"I really fancy him, he’s a manager that knows exactly what he wants and has brought a group of people that have worked with him before.

“The General Manager that I had at Valencia is his General Manager at Aston Villa – he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s been round the block and he’s a top manager – they’ll deliver this season."

Neville has also likened Emery to the Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde and believes his tactical knowledge is up there with the best..

He added: "I remember telling Jamie Carragher about Ernesto Valverde who went on to coach Barcelona. I played his Bilbao F.C twice, well it was three times when I was at Valencia CF.

“He wasn’t just one step ahead of me, he was 10 steps ahead of me. He changed three times in one game, and I’d never seen anything like it to be honest with you.

"I always felt like I was massively behind. When you’re feeling fear on the touchline but there against Lewis Enrique, Diego Simeone from Atlético Madrid but Valverde and Unai Emery are similar to Valverde in his thinking behind the game.

“The people who can do that – they’re special coaches, massively talented, Aston Villa have got someone there that could do really well for them. That’s why I put them where I did in that sort of top six.

"They’ve got something to go in there.”