Manchester United have the chance to avenge their defeat at Villa Park this week, with Aston Villa making the trip to Old Trafford to complete a set of back-to-back games between the two sides.
Unai Emery enjoyed a dream start to life in Birmingham, comfortably dispatching Erik ten Hag’s men as they ran out 3-1 winners in the end.
United were lethargic and one 15-minute spell in the first half aside, they never looked like competing with the energetic Villa side.
They will, however, face each other again on Thursday in the Carabao Cup and writing in his pre-match programme notes, Ten Hag has admitted that there are lessons to be learned and that tonight’s game is the perfect opportunity to show that.
“Football teaches you lessons every time you play the game and as a manager I want to see that my players learn those lessons,” he wrote, according to Samuel Luckhurst.
“Tonight, the players have an opportunity to demonstrate very quickly that they have paid attention to what happened at Villa Park.”
Ten Hag is expected to rotate his squad for the game, with United’s final game before the season is broken by the World Cup taking place this weekend.
SN’s verdict…
The defeat at Villa Park ended a nine-game unbeaten run for United and jumping to conclusions after a poor performance would be harsh.
This is still a side that is steadily improving under Ten Hag and you’re always going to have good and bad days. The day at Aston Villa was, unfortunately, a bad one.
The players’ performances were not the only thing being questioned. Ten Hag’s decisions were also under the microscope and accountability is something he has spoken about before. He’s not only talking about the players.
