At A Glance
Aston Villa will be looking to gain a measure of revenge for their FA Cup defeat when Manchester United visit Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday.
With Monday’s 1-0 Third Round loss at Old Trafford still fresh in the memory, Steven Gerrard’s team now begin the second half of their league campaign against the Red Devils.
After 19 top-flight games this term, including a 2-1 defeat to Brentford last time out, the club sit 14th in the table heading into this weekend’s fixtures.
United are seven places and nine points higher up the league, but they also lost their last Premier League tilt.
Wolves emerged as 1-0 winners at Old Trafford, ending a six-game unbeaten run.
Under former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim boss Ralf Rangnick, United have won four, drawn three and lost two of their nine away games in the league.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa are winless in their last 22 home league games against Manchester United (D7 L15) since a 3-1 victory in August 1995. It’s the longest winless home run one side has had against another in English Football League history.
In all competitions, Man Utd are unbeaten in their last 22 away games against Aston Villa (W17 D5) since a 3-0 loss in the League Cup in October 1999. In English football history, only Liverpool (23 vs Sunderland between 1959 and 2002) have had a longer unbeaten away run against an opponent when both sides have been played in the top four tiers at the time.
Aston Villa are looking to win consecutive league games against Man Utd for the first time since November 1976, while they last did the league double over the Red Devils in 1954-55.
Manchester United have scored the opening goal in 33 Premier League games against Aston Villa, winning 32 and drawing one of those matches. It’s the most a team has opened the scoring without losing against a side in the competition’s history.
Manchester United have won 299 Premier League away games, and would be the first side to reach 300 in the competition with victory here. No side has won more Premier League games (37) or away games (17) in the competition’s history than the Red Devils have against Aston Villa.
None of Aston Villa’s last 16 Premier League games have ended level (W6 L10), with the Villans last having a longer run without a league draw between September 1964 and April 1965 (29 games).
Dean Smith was manager of Aston Villa for their 1-0 win earlier this season over Man Utd, while Steven Gerrard will take charge of this game. Should the Villans win, they will be the first team to complete a league double over Manchester United with a different manager in charge for each game since Bolton Wanderers in 1950-51 (Walter Rowley and Bill Ridding).
As a player, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard ended on the winning side in 10 Premier League games against Man Utd, a joint-record along with Nicolas Anelka, John Terry and Petr Cech.
However, including caretakers, only one of the last 18 managers has won their first Premier League match against the Red Devils, with Mikel Arteta winning with Arsenal in January 2020.
Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes has taken a penalty in all four of his Premier League games against Aston Villa, scoring the first three but missing in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford this season. No player (or team) has ever taken a penalty in five consecutive games against a specific opponent in the competition.
Man Utd’s Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in 11 goals in his nine Premier League starts against Aston Villa (8 goals, 3 assists). It’s the most goals he’s scored (8) and been involved in (11) against a specific opponent in the competition.
The Last Meeting
This is the second meeting between the sides this week following a pulsating FA Cup encounter on Monday.
Scott McTominay gave United the advantage after just eight minutes at Old Trafford, a lead they didn’t relinquish.
Villa had two goals disallowed and saw Ollie Watkins hit the crossbar as they played their part in an entertaining match.
Team News
Steven Gerrard confirmed both of his new signings, Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne, are available for the game.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace joins Marvelous Nakamba and Leon Bailey on the sidelines, while Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore are participating in the Africa Cup of Nations. John McGinn will serve a one-match suspension.
Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo back have trained this week after missing Monday night’s FA Cup clash.
Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay will serve one-game bans, while Paul Pogba has been ruled out.
The Boss
“It’s a unique situation, playing the same team twice in a short space of time, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to bounce back. If we can find a similar level of performance, be a little bit more ruthless in the final third and the big calls on the night go in our favour, I’ve got no doubt we can get the result we want.”
Steven Gerrard
