Manchester United v Aston Villa
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 29th March
12:45 KO (BST)
Old Trafford, Manchester
United (7th)
“I’ve got to say, I’m more driven to succeed than ever because I want the team to turn around and I want to change the position we’re in just now.” -David Moyes. Not even worth an unflattering put-down, is it?
Starting XI from: David de Gea, Anders Lindegaard; Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Alex Buttner, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Adnan Januzaj, Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa; Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez.
Doubts: Nani (hamstring)
Unavailable: Chris Smalling (hamstring), Jonny Evans (calf), Robin Van Persie (knee)
Top scorers: Robin Van Persie (11), Wayne Rooney (13)
Most assists: Wayne Rooney (10)
PL form: D W W L W L
Home record v Aston Villa: P78 W51 D16 L11
Aston Villa (12th)
“I was up there the other night to watch them against Man City. To be fair to them, City were fantastic. They still have some great, great players there. It’s not as if they have become poor players overnight.” Paul Lambert speaking to avfc.co.uk
Starting XI from: Brad Guzan, Shay Given, Jed Steer; Nathan Baker, Joseph Bennett, Ryan Bertrand, Ciaran Clark, Janoi Donacien, Matthew Lowton, Jores Okore, Antonion Luna, Ron Vlaar; Marc Albrighton, Leandro Bacuna, Fabian Delph, Gary Gardner, Chris Herd, Daniel Johnson, Yacouba Sylla, Aleksandar Tonev, Ashley Westwood; Gabriel Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke, Nicklas Helenius, Grant Holt, Libor Kozak, Callum Robinson, Andreas Weimann.
Doubts: Karim El Ahmadi (thigh)
Unavailable: n/a
Top scorer: Christian Benteke (11)
Most assists: Gabriel Agbonlahor (5)
PL form: L D L W W L
Previous league meetings
Villa 0-3 United (15-12-13)
United 3-0 Villa (22-04-13)
Villa 2-3 United (10-11-12)
United 4-0 Villa (15-04-12)
Villa 0-1 United (03-12-11)
United 3-1 Villa (01-02-11)
Officials
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistants: S Child, H Lennard
Fourth Official: C Pawson
Notes
OMINOUS: United haven’t been beaten by Aston Villa since December 2009, when Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the only goal in front of the Stretford End, their only victory in this fixture in 34 league and cup matches. It’s just that sort of season though, isn’t it?
COMFORTING: United have recorded a league-record 100 points over Villa.
HELPFUL: Villa have only earned two points from their last four away matches. Given United’s home record, who will break first? The irresistible force, or the immovable object?
WORRYING: Paul Lambert’s side have clawed 13 points back from losing positions this season.
AIRBORNE: Even though no supporter group will own up to it, attention from tomorrow’s match is likely to be drawn away from the pitch and towards the skies, after confirmation that fans plan to hire a plane to fly over Old Trafford trailing a banner reading “Wrong One. Moyes Out”. Just to be clear, no one at Red Mancunian believes this to be a wise move, let alone a constructive use of a plane. Unless the banner bares the legend Welbz Is Dat Guy.
United 9/20 Draw 15/4 Villa 7
Red Mancunian predictions
Craig (@CraigNorwood): United 3-0 Villa
Iwan (@IwanLehnert): United 1-1 Villa
Jack (@jackkholt): United 2-0 Villa
Jay (@RFFH): United 5-0 Villa
Mark (@mdhzk3): United 3-1 Villa
Nick (@ManUnitedYouth): United 3-1 Villa
Sam (@CenterSneak): United 1-1 Villa
Thomo (@andy_thomo): United 2-1 Villa
2 replies on “MATCH PREVIEW: Manchester United v Aston Villa”
Looks like it’s going to be a tough afternoon.
Depending upon your viewpoint, we will have to deal with Aston Villains, flying villains and dug-out villains.
What a fantastic game…..we have to keep going,up man u