Aston Villa v Crystal Palace: Villa looking to address mini slump

Villa fell to four successive defeats in all competitions before the international break – including back-to-back Premier League losses at Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.

Only once in the Spanish supremo's Villa career has he lost three league games in a row.

That was more than 18 months ago in a Villa side far removed from the one which has since not only stabilised itself in the Premier League but gone on to qualify for the Champions League and beat European giants Bayern Munich in that very competition.

Another one of those global heavyweights is due to visit Villa Park on Wednesday.

But while the Juventus game is a massive one, you can’t help but get the feeling that three points against Crystal Palace tomorrow would be just as important – if not more so.

That speaks for how ambitions have changed since Emery took over from Steven Gerrard two years ago.Villa don’t want this foray into Europe’s elite to be a one-off, they have ambitions to repeat it.

The double setback against Spurs and Liverpool – two of their challengers for that top four – saw Villa sink to ninth place in the Premier League, although they still sit just one point adrift of the top four in a congested top half of the table.

And, Ipswich aside, Villa have been efficient in seeing off the teams they are now supposed to beat.

So Emery is searching for the consistency that will help his team compete again on all fronts.

He said: "We are building a team and we are trying to increase our level and demands.

"Of course, there is still a gap and distance to those teams in the Premier League like Liverpool, like Man City and even when we compete well, it is very difficult.

"This year, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Brentford, they compete well. Now we are not really imposing with those teams some distance in the table.

"Only now is Liverpool. We played here (at Liverpool) before and we know their capacity and potential in a lot of things.

"We are trying to compete and be positive, to play here thinking how can we reduce the distance to face them and have the possibility to win.

"We did more or less this work here, but it was not enough. I accept it. My objective with the club and the team, we achieved before what we were thinking."If we are increasing and improving as best as possible in our process and way, it is of course welcome.

"We have to try to get the balance because maybe last year we achieved this level and this year we are not getting it at the moment.

"I am positive but we have to know how we are doing our way."

As frustrating as a November international break is, it has given Emery time to reflect on ‘our way’ and plot a path back to form, and back to the top four.