Villa face Manchester United for the second time this week as they seek revenge in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday
Villa face Manchester United for the second time this week as they seek revenge in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday.
The two sides faced off in the FA Cup third round on Sunday where Ralf Rangnick’s side advanced through with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford despite an encouraging performance from the Villains.
Aston Villa
Gerrard’s men come into the game on the back of successive league defeats to Chelsea and Brentford, though the team that faced United in the FA Cup will look a lot different on Saturday.
The impressive additions of Phillippe Coutinho from Barcelona on a six-month loan and the capture of full-back Lucas Digne from Everton for a fee of £25m should create different problems for the visitors and give a huge lift to the side.
Villa have won seven of their 19 games this term, losing 11 of them and drawing just once which sees them in 14th position – just three points behind Leicester City in 10th.
Despite losing four of their last five games in all competitions, Villa did defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford in September in their impressive 1-0 win, though have not beaten the Red Devils at Villa Park in the league since 1995.
Manchester United
After narrowly beating Villa in the FA Cup third round on Monday, there remains an air of frustration amongst United fans with the lacklustre performances on show this season.
Rangnick’s side were defeated at home to Wolves in their last Premier League game convincingly and currently sit in seventh position, though do have two games in hand on West Ham who occupy fourth with the battle for Champions League places set to go to the wire.
United face Villa, Brentford and West Ham which concludes their January fixtures, which on paper look favourable, though on the pitch tells of a different story.
It isn’t all doom and gloom at Old Trafford though, with their Champions League last 16 tie with Atletico Madrid to play in early February, along with a fourth round FA Cup tie with Middlesborough.
Team news
The new additions of Phillippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne will be on the team sheets of most Villa fans as both look to be included, though Coutinho may begin from the bench having played few minutes for Barcelona recently.
Leon Bailey and Marvelous Nakamba remain on the sidelines and John McGinn misses out through suspension.
The duo of Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet are away at the African Cup of Nations, while Morgan Sanson looks set to replace McGinn in midfield.
As for United, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to return to the starting eleven after a minor hip injury kept him out of their FA Cup game, while Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire look set to return to the starting line-up.
Paul Pogba remains out with a thigh injury while Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw miss out through suspension.
Aston Villa vs Manchester United – kick off at 5:30pm (UK time) on Saturday 15th January 2022
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