LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Unai Emery claims Aston Villa should not be expected to repeat their surprise top four finish in the Premier League this season.

Emery’s side is looking forward to its first Champions League campaign since 1982-83, after unexpectedly finishing fourth in the top flight last season.

But the Spaniard tried to cool expectations of another top four finish this term ahead of Villa’s Premier League opener at West Ham on Saturday.

Emery believes seven teams are better placed to battle it out for the top four, naming Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle.

“We’re not contenders to be in the top four; we’re not starting being contenders to be in the top five,” Emery told reporters on Friday.

“There are seven teams who are contenders more than us. They have more capacity than us and we are trying to develop in every direction we can do.

“We are trying to reduce the distance to those teams, and we are doing it, but there are still seven teams with more capacity than us at the beginning of the season.”

Emery has seen how Newcastle struggled last season when they had to juggle the demands of the Premier League with the intensity of the Champions League.

Newcastle had finished fourth in 2022/23 but slumped to a seventh-placed final position last term, and crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage.

“The expectations for this year are different because we are going to play in the Champions League,” Emery said.

“We are demanding of ourselves, and we want to keep the same spirit we had last year to compete — trying to be in with the top seven.

“In the Premier League we have to keep the same competitive spirit we had last year.”

Emery has a well-earned reputation as a European expert after winning the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

The 52-year-old also took unfancied Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals in 2022.

He wants Villa to enjoy similar success, and urged his players not to be content with reaching the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition.

“We are going to compete in the Champions League — and I want to compete being a protagonist,” he said.

“I don’t want to play in the Champions League [if we’re just] getting there and not being competitive.

“I don’t know about getting to quarter-finals or semi-finals, but we have to be competitive and play each match facing the best teams in the world.”