Manchester United travel to Aston Villa in their penultimate Premier League match before the World Cup. With Liverpool playing Spurs and Arsenal facing Chelsea, this is the perfect game to build momentum and push into the top four. Aston Villa have only won one in their last six and were most recently slammed 4-0 by Newcastle. A loss could send them into the relegation zone especially if they lose heavily.

United are currently able to dominate and maintain heavy pressure on their opponents but have struggled to seal victories and leaving the option for late drama. However, United’s valiant defending has prevented such from occurring. They will want a big performance and a heavy scoreline to secure the points and leave no room for an Aston Villa comeback. Here’s all you need to know:

Aston Villa vs Manchester United Match Information:

Teams: Aston Villa and Manchester United
Date: Sunday 6th November 2022
KO Time: 14:00 GMT
Stadium: Villa Park
Managers: Unai Emery and Erik ten Hag
Referee: Anthony Taylor

Team News

Aston Villa

Aston Villa will likely welcome back Emi Martinez after sustaining a head injury against Newcastle. However, new manager, Unai Emery will be without summer signings Boubacar Kamara, Diego Carlos and Ludwig Augustinsson who remain out.

Manchester United

Erik ten Hag will be sweating on the return of Anthony Martial to the squad. Martial has been in training this week but has missed the last six games through a third injury of the season. With Ronaldo misfiring it would be beneficial for Martial to get a few games under his belt before the World Cup (which he could still be a part of). Jadon Sancho and Antony missed training through illness and a knock respectively and it is uncertain if they will return. Varane, Williams and Tuanzebe are out.

Bruno Fernandes will be suspended after receiving a dubious yellow card against West Ham and could leave a spot open for any one of United’s midfielders to feature alongside Eriksen and Casemiro.

Interesting Facts

• Manchester United failed to win either of their league games against Aston Villa last season and bottled a two goal lead at Villa Park under Ralf Rangnick while Bruno Fernandes missed a stoppage time penalty in a 0-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
• Manchester United last kept a league clean sheet against Aston Villa in a 0-3 win at Villa Park in 2020.
• Bruno Fernandes will miss the trip to Villa Park. He has scored five goals in his last five league games against Sunday’s opponents.

Predicted XI:

Manchester United’s lineup will determine how strong they go for in the cup. I expect not many changes from the trip to Spain. It will be a big call whether to keep Lindelof who played well or bring in Maguire who equally showed his quality against West Ham. I will go for a Lindelof and Martinez partnership to allow Maguire room to start against Aston Villa in the cup. Dalot and Martinez will certainly play along with Luke Shaw.

Casemiro and Eriksen are guaranteed to feature but with Fernandes absent, it is whether ten Hag chooses Donny who was anonymous against Sociedad or for Fred to start and add more pace and energy in midfield. I will go for Fred because Villa’s midfield can gift the ball and pressing and intercepting play are Fred’s two strongest qualities.

Marcus Rashford has to start and I would expect the same for Elanga. As for Ronaldo, I am praying Martial is fit for this game. Ronaldo has played 270 minutes without a break and without really impressing for a full 90. If he is not fit then I would start Garnacho out wide and move Rashford to the striker role. United aren’t going to beat Konsa and Mings in the air but they can beat them for pace and runs off the ball.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred; Elanga, Eriksen, Garnacho; Rashford

Aston Villa vs Manchester United Predicted Score

If United cut the early pressure out and maintain possession in dangerous places, this could be a good result on the road. Unfortunately, United haven’t been winning well away from home this season and so a narrow score would be a likely result. But with the momentum of 8 unbeaten, and Villa looking very vulnerable in every game, United could rip them apart.

United to win 1-3