Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is not fazed by who Unai Emery chooses to start for Aston Villa in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday, as their structure always stays the same no matter the first 11.
The Eagles have played Villa four times since Glasner replaced Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park, with the South Londoners unbeaten so far.
Palace have won 5-0 and 4-1 against Emery’s Villa side under Glasner, while also knocking out this season’s Champions League quarter-finalists in the EFL Cup earlier this season at Villa Park.
Emery has switched between starting Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford in the second half of the season since the latter joined from Manchester United on loan in the winter window.
“I don’t care,” said Glasner, when asked about the challenges of preparing for Emery’s tinkering.
“He will not call me to ask who I want to play. The structure is the same if it’s Rashford or Ollie Watkins.
“They have pretty much the same profiles – great pace and always attacking the space in behind.
“I’m pretty sure that Morgan Rodgers and Marco Asensio will play. If he plays with Yuri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara or Amadou Onana, whichever two play, the structure is the same.
“If he plays with Lucas Digne or Ian Maatsen, the structure is the same. How he wants his defenders to defend is always the same.
“I don’t really care about it because I don’t know. We will see his line-up 75 minutes before tomorrow’s kick-off. Then we will talk about fine margins.
“There is maybe a difference in set-pieces between Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres. These are the small margins.
“Their structure brought them into the Champions League quarter-final. Their structure and way of playing, and how Unai Emery manages this team, got them a win against PSG at home.
“This is what he will rely on. We will rely on what we did really well in the first three games against Villa this year.
“I’m really sure it will be a great game at Wembley.”
PICTURE: ALAMY
