After a humiliating defeat in their last premier league fixture, United came back to winning way as they defeated and eliminate West Ham United in FA cup’s quarter-final tie. The next task for the Dutch Philosopher is to give his side a 5th straight home victory against the struggling Villains.
Villa, on the other hand, are already out of the competition and the players are having some severe crisis with the fans as well as the boss. United have a great record at home in terms of conceding the goals as, they have conceded just 7 goals at Old Trafford this season and Villa, have conceded 33 goals in their all away fixtures in the premier league this season.
Obviously, United have the upper hand in this fixture as their opponents are having the worst form in their history. In their last fixture, Adan Januzaj scored the only goal in the game and the game was settled in United’s favour and the Red’s unbeaten run at Villa Park was extended to 20 league matches. This time, Van Gaal will be looking to close down the 4 points deficit between them and their city rivals.
Manchester United vs Aston Villa team News-
Wayne Rooney made his first team appearance in their last game at Upton Park and will be available against Villa. Phil Jones, on the other hand, has played full 90 minutes for his team’s U-21 side so, he might be available on the bench. Januzaj, Schweinsteiger and Luke Shaw are still out on the sidelines due to their respective injuries.
Ander Herrera is set to miss the clash because of the foot injury he sustained in the FA Cup win at Upton Park.
On the other side, Aston Villa will be without the services of their star striker Agbonlahor, Amavi and Kozak.
Lineups-
Manchester United-
De Gea
Valencia; Smalling; Blind; Fosu-Mensah
Carrick; Schneiderlin
Mata; Rooney; Martial
Rashford
Aston Villa-
Guzan
Hutton; Clark; Lescott; Cissokho
Sinclair; Westwood; Lyden; Richardson
Gestede; Ayew
Key Stats-
Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 13 games against Aston Villa and, unbeaten in last 5 games at Old Trafford as well.
Manchester United have scored at least 3 goals in 8 of their last 9 games against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
Fifty of United’s 1,000 Premier League goals at Old Trafford have come against Aston Villa, the highest tally against any opponent.
After missing many games for the club, Jordan Ayew is still the top scorer for the club with 6 goals.
Prediction-
It will be an easy game for the Red Devils as they have their home advantage and the recent form of their opponents makes them even more favourite.
Manchester United have won 4 out of their last 6 games and have lost 2. Furthermore, Villa have lost all of their last 6 games.
4-0 Manchester United.