Aston Villa welcome Manchester United to Villa Park on Sunday with the chance to go level with the champions with a win. Currently sitting in 11th in the table, Paul Lambert will have been delighted with results within the last six weeks. Having gone five games unbeaten during November and the start of December, culminating in a fantastic away win at Southampton, Villa would have been confident going into their last match against Fulham. However, they lost 2-0 with goals from Berbatov and Sidwell after a lacklustre performance which they will hope to put right this weekend. Their home form hasn’t been excellent this season but are unbeaten in their last two and have picked up a win again Man City along the way so an upset could be on the cards.
The visitors keen to bounce back from two defeats in a row at Old Trafford. No one will want to put this right more than David Moyes, who is having a difficult time at the moment with results not quite going his way and much scrutiny from their fans and football personnel alike. It was always going to be a tough ask to replace his predecessor, Sir Alex Ferguson with fans automatically demanding success because that’s what they have been used to. In past seasons, December, January and February are the months that Man United have put their foot on the gas and picked up crucial points leading into the final stages of the season and will hope that the upcoming games will bring prosperous results. Although they have lost their last two, United’s home form has been decent of late having not lost in their last four away from home in the league.
The recent head-to-head results between these two sides have been dominated by United. Villa have only won one game against United in 35 games in the league and have lost their last 6 on the trot. In the same fixture last season, Villa lead by 2 goals to nil and were on the way to a big upset until United bought on substitute Javier Hernandez who single-handedly changed the game with two goals, eventually helping his side to a 3-2 victory.
Team News
Aston Villa
Villa had Ron Vlaar missing in the last match and it was visible with a shaky performance at the back and will again be without the player who is still recovering from calf injury. Kozak is also set to miss out with a toe injury but should be available for their next match. Luna could make his return to the side whilst Fabian Delph is suspended for the match. Joe Bennett and Charles N’Zogbia are long term absentees.
Man United
United have been rocked by the news that Robin Van Persie is set to miss out for a month with a thigh injury. This is bad news having to into a busy period of matches without their star striker available. Wayne Rooney is back from suspension and will lead the line upfront for United. Moyes has the option to play two strikers with Hernandez and Welbeck both available but may choose to play Kagawa just in behind Rooney. Changes will have to be made at the back with Smalling, Vidic and Evra all unlikely to feature after picking up injuries with Ferdinand, Evans and Buttner likely to replace them. Fellaini, Carrick and Fletcher are also all missing.
Possible Team Line-Ups
Interesting Facts
- Both sides have only won 2 of their last 6 games
- The last meeting at Villa Park ended with a 3-2 victory for Man United. Villa has taken a 2-0 but were undone by a Javier Hernandez double and a Ron Vlaar OG.
- Aston Villa haven’t won any of the last 5 meetings between the sides at Villa Park losing 2 times and drawing 3 times
- If Man Utd lose this match it would be just the fourth time in the Premier League where have lost three in a row (Nov 1996, May 2001 & Dec 2001).
- Villa are the only team in the league this season to have not dropped any points from a match in which they have been leading.
- Villa have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League home games and six of their last nine overall in the competition.
- Manchester United have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games.
- Villa have won just one of their last 35 Barclays Premier League games against Manchester United (W1 D9 L25).
Key Men
Aston Villa: Leandro Bacuna
Bacuna has been an unsung hero at the back from Aston Villa this season. A £750,000 signing from FC Groningen in the summer, it has proved to be a shrewd buy from manager Paul Lambert. He has made an immediate impact on the side and has cemented his place as one of the first on the team sheet. So far, he has made a total of 420 passes with a pass accuracy of 70% with 781 overall touches of the ball. His tackling is one of his main strengths with 26 of his 31 attempted tackles deemed accepted given him a success rate of 84%. Creating 7 chances so far this season as well as one assist, he enjoys crossing the ball whenever given the opportunity so if he and Benteke can link up well then there may be a goal to be found. Bacuna has also built up a reputation of being a free-kick specialist having scored two so far since joining Villa with many comparing his technique to the free-kick master himself David Beckham.
Man United: Phil Jones
Jones has been as consistent as any Man United player so far and has shown himself to be a leader on the pitch since arriving from Blackburn a few seasons ago. One aspect of Jones which useful for David Moyes is his versatility with the ability to play in all positions across the back four as well as in central midfield where he is likely to partner Cleverly again for this weekends match. Jones has a passing accuracy of 87% from his 442 passes as well as 652 touches so far which shows his involvement during matches is quite high. His tackle success rate is also at a respectable 80% from his 25 tackles so far and is a threat in the air within both boxes with 45 headed clearances this season and although he has not scored so far this season, he has the ability to produce from a free-kick or corner so he will be a dangerous from set-pieces. Having scored in the Champions League in midweek, his confidence will be high and will be determined to stop Villa from making it three defeats in a row for United.
Prediction
Some may say that this is a great time to play United as they may be a wounded animal right now with Villa having their best opportunity in years to beat their so called bogie team. Although others will argue that this is the worst time with the Red Devils aiming to bounce back and show their fans that they are not giving up their title without a dogged fight. Only rarely have United lost three in a row in the league and I don’t think there will be another case of this on Sunday so I will go for a United victory
