Aston Villa Preview: Away form needs drastic improvement

Manchester United’s first away win of the 2014/15 season came in November against Arsenal after dropping points to sides such as Sunderland, Burnley, Leicester City, West Brom and Manchester City.

To go a step further MK Dons knocked us out of the Capital One Cup in the second round. It took us a long time to get the ball rolling despite our away support being the best in the land. In terms of atmosphere, the same is expected this year as will be seen under the floodlights at Villa Park on Friday night.

 

Much of the talk going into the game circulates around David de Gea and whether Louis van Gaal should start the Madrid craving goalkeeper. If Dave’s acting the bollocks and cannot respect a contract he signed with his own hand he will leave under a grey cloud which will be a shame given how fans stood by him through difficult times.

Sergio Romero, I must admit, does not fill me with much confidence. The Argentine simply did what was asked of him against Spurs yet several reds go ahead of themselves on the back of one performance claiming de Gea’s replacement was already at the club. It will take a lot more convincing for me to warm to the idea and I suspect another goalkeeper signing before the transfer window closes.

Aston Villa are a bit of an unknown quality this season meaning nobody really knows what to expect from them. Last season’s FA Cup finalists will possibly have their first entire campaign under Tim Sherwood, a man that appears to fit everything he says into a single Vine. He was able to get the best out of new Liverpool signing Cristian Benteke, but where will he get his goals from now?

Both sides go head-to-head after wins on the opening day of the Premier League season but it’s United that will need to be aware of their away form last season. A repeat of that and top four will look unlikely as I don’t expect Liverpool and Spurs to be as weak.

Fans will be eagerly anticipating the return of Tom Cleverley but all jokes aside, I was fond of the United youth academy graduate while carefully stating he may never be of the standard expected to play for a top club. However, coming into the first-team under Ferguson the way he did certainly bought him time.

Jack Grealish has a big season ahead of him after causing quite a stir during the summer. Few of us can say we’ve need had drunken nights and it’s very much part of growing up. Jack is young, immature and a specimen with Irish blood. Sound familiar? *Runs*

Sherwood confirmed in his press conference on Thursday that Grealish is not fully fit and will not feature.

Villa fans will be hopeful that their club can end a two-decade spell without a win against the reds.

Date: Friday, 14 August 2015

Time: 19.45 p.m.

Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham

From

Manchester United: W

Aston Villa: W

 

More Stories Aston Villa David de Gea Jack Grealish Manchester United Sergio Romero Tom Cleverley