Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has given his backing to Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim , despite the Portuguese's struggles to turn the club's season around since his appointment in November. United sit in 16th position in the Premier League table going into the final match of the season against Villa at Old Trafford . Their last chance of playing Champions League football next season came and went on Wednesday night as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Tottenham in the Europa League final. It means that the final meeting of the season sees United only play for pride, and maybe a couple of places in the standings. Villa, meanwhile, are fighting to finish in the Champions League spots. But the Villa manager is not expecting an easy game. When asked what he expects from United on Sunday, Emery said, via BirminghamLive : "Always the best of them. "The greatness of Manchester United will still be there, the great coach they have is still there. He did a fantastic job at Sporting Lisbon and not one year, two years or three years, consistently. "When he arrived here it was a difficult moment they were in two competitions - as well in the FA Cup - trying to be consistent but chose in one moment the Europa League because it was a very good way to try to get through to their target to be in Europe in the Champions League. "But, of course, only one of them before the final could achieve the objective and they lost. "But the greatness will still be there, the coach is a great coach, the players are very good players. "I debuted against them here with Aston Villa three years ago and on Sunday they will have a lot of those players on the field. "I have massive respect for Manchester United, for the players and for their coach. "I expect the best of them because, of course, they will play honestly for the Premier League, for their supporters to try to show their capacity to perform and compete in the level they are." Despite the disappointment of the season, Amorim has the full backing of the United hierarchy . They are set to back him in the summer transfer window, with the club closing in on the £62.5million signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves, while maintaining a strong interest in Ipswich Town's Liam Delap. --- Here at The Manchester Evening News , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis. Make sure you don't miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories. And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts , and you can also watch along on YouTube .