Manchester United are looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League this weekend as they welcome Aston Villa, who are on the cusp of qualifying for European football after battling relegation earlier this season.
The Villa Park club were dangerously close to the drop halfway through the season but the decision to sack Steven Gerrard has been vindicated, with Unai Emery guiding the Villains to fifth.
The reverse fixture was Emery’s first game in charge of the club and United will be looking to avenge that 3-1 loss on Sunday as Erik ten Hag will be desperate to seal a top-four finish as soon as possible.
United have a number of injury concerns going into the game, with Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Scott McTominay all among those to miss the game.
Villa have issues of their own as five first-team players are set to miss the trip to Old Trafford. That’s according to the Birmingham Mail, who say that Jed Steer, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey were all absent from the travelling party.
SN’s verdict…
Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last 10 games and it will take some effort for United to put an end to that run. One thing is for sure and that’s that United cannot afford to lose the game or they risk getting dragged back into a dogfight for the Champions League places.
That happened just a couple of weeks ago when the Reds went three straight games without a win but luckily, that was followed up by three straight wins and other results went in their favour.
The failure to beat Tottenham after claiming a two-goal advantage was a big blow and this weekend, a victory would go a long way towards securing a return to Europe’s fine dining table.
