At A Glance
Aston Villa travel to Old Trafford on Sunday looking to continue the fine form that has taken them up the Premier League table.
Eight wins and two draws have formed a 10-match unbeaten run that has seen the club climb from the bottom half of the table into the top six.
A 1-0 win at home to Fulham was the latest triumph for Unai Emery’s team, who have also impressed with their away form in the top flight since the Spaniard took charge in November (W6, D2, L1).
Opponents Manchester United reached their second cup final of the season when they saw off Brighton & Hove Albion in their FA Cup semi-final last weekend.
The League Cup winners lost out in Emery’s first game in charge at Villa Park earlier in the season (3-1) before gaining revenge in the League Cup four days later (4-2).
The Red Devils took on Tottenham Hotspur last time out and recorded a 2-2 draw on Thursday night, with United opening up a two-goal lead before Spurs hit back to share the spoils.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have gone 10 Premier League games without defeat, winning eight, for the first time since October 2011.
Villa have kept seven clean sheets and only conceded three goals during that unbeaten run.
It's six wins and just one defeat in nine away league fixtures for Villa under Emery.
Villa have scored in all 20 Premier League matches since Emery took charge, the longest streak from the start of a manager's tenure in the competition's history.
Ollie Watkins has scored 11 times in 14 league appearances. He needs one more goal to become the first Villa player to reach 15 in a top-flight season since Christian Benteke a decade ago.
Manchester United have gone three league games without a win against Villa, losing twice. United had only lost two of the previous 51 league meetings (W37, D12).
Villa won this season's reverse fixture 3-1 in Emery's first game in charge and are looking to complete their first league double over United since 1954/55.
The Red Devils are at risk of suffering consecutive home league defeats against Villa for the first time since 1930.
Manchester United are unbeaten in 14 Premier League home games, the longest current ongoing run in the division (W11, D3). Their last defeat at Old Trafford was against Brighton on the opening weekend of the season.
Defeat on Sunday would be United's 200th in the Premier League.
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa bowed out of the Carabao Cup following a 4-2 defeat to Manchester United in November.
Villa twice took the lead in an enthralling second half, which came following a low-key first period, but the hosts levelled on each occasion before triumphing courtesy of late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay.
Watkins’ third goal of the season handed Villa a lead which lasted just a minute as Anthony Martial levelled.
Diogo Dalot’s own goal restored Villa’s advantage just after the hour but, again, it was quickly extinguished by Marcus Rashford’s finish.
Team News
Head coach Emery boasts an unchanged squad from Tuesday’s 1-0 triumph over Fulham.
Absentees Matty Cash, Philippe Coutinho, Leon Bailey and Boubacar Kamara are all edging closer to their respective returns but this weekend comes too soon.
The Boss
“I think they are having a very good season. For us, it’s a very good challenge, it will be a very different match on Sunday to when we played at home when I arrived here. Very different match to when we played in the Carabao Cup there and lost 4-2. Now is a different moment for them and for us. But, as well, it will be very difficult for us. I think we can face the match, we can be very demanding trying in the 90 minutes to get our best performance. And if we do it, we can have chances to take some points.”
Unai Emery
