Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton is one of those ABU (Anybody But United) pundits, so he usually pops up whenever he has anything negative to say about us.
This week he is tipping Aston Villa to return to winning ways at Villa Park against Manchester United.
Villa go into the weekend in fourth spot, five points behind leaders Liverpool but just two appoints ahead of Spurs in fifth. A win for Unai Emery’s side on Sunday means they’ll stretch their lead over United to 11 points.
United cannot let that happen and Ten Hag has urged his players to approach every game from now on as a final. The Reds have won four and drawn one of their last five games.
Speaking to the BBC, Sutton explains why he tips Villa to beat United 2-1: “Manchester United impressed me in their win over West Ham with the control they had of that game – we have not seen that from them very often recently. People are saying they are getting back to their best form and when Erik ten Hag spoke afterwards, he was as upbeat as I’ve heard him be all season.
“Rasmus Hojlund is one of the reasons Ten Hag is so positive. He played well, and again took his goal well. This is a very different test, however, even if Aston Villa have lost their past two home games, firstly against Newcastle and then to Chelsea in the FA Cup.
“Villa are not out of the title race yet and I am backing them to respond. While I think Manchester United will score, Lisandro Martinez’s injury is a big loss for them at the back.”
United need to keep building momentum
The return of Lisandro Martinez was huge for Ten Hag’s side because the team finally started to replicate the type of team the Dutchman would want to manager. However, his injury is a massive blow but our fit players cannot let our form dip again.
Otherwise we can forget about playing in the Champions League next season.
The only way to build momentum is by winning football matches and that was the biggest reason Ten Hag rarely rotated his squad last season.
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I was already feeling confident about this match, even more so now this dummy has tipped Villa. VP probably my favourite away ground; many magical Cup victories there.