Manchester United welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford in New Year’s Day football from the Premier League.
Victory could see Man Utd stay second and move level on points with league leaders – Liverpool, whilst Villa look to climb to third with a win if Everton lose in the teatime kick-off to West Ham.
Team News
Victor Lindelof could return for Man Utd after missing Tuesday’s win over Wolves with a back injury.
Edinson Cavani is suspended after being found guilty of an inappropriate post by the FA whilst Marcos Rojo (calf) and Phil Jones (knee) remain absent.
Villa will welcome Tyrone Mings back into the starting line-up after the defender served an one match ban in their 1-1 draw at Chelsea following his red card on Boxing Day against Crystal Palace.
Ross Barkley (hamstring) could also feature but Wesley won’t be risked until fully match fit and could join Trezeguet (hamstring) on the sidelines.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd are unbeaten in their last 15 league meetings against Aston Villa (W11, D4).
- Villa are winless in their last seven trips to Old Trafford (D1, L6).
- Three of last four meetings at Old Trafford have seen both teams score.
- No Premier League midfielder has scored more goals in the 16 rounds so far this season than Utd’s Bruno Fernandes with 10 goals in 15 appearances.
- Villa’s Jack Grealish has scored six assists in 14 league appearances this season compared to five assists in 36 outings last campaign.
Prediction
Man Utd need to produce a more clinical performance than they did on Tuesday because they were extremely scrappy and wasted shots throughout, which was uncharacteristic of their recent standards domestically.
Villa meanwhile weathered a Chelsea storm to come away from Stamford Bridge with a hard earned point, having slowly grown into the match with more attacking threat in the second half after a defensively sloppy opening 45 minutes.
This therefore should be a cracking game because Villa have improved vastly this season so will be a tougher task for Man Utd to beat, although if the hosts turn in another messy performance then I can see a surprise Villa win coming at one of their recent bogey grounds.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Manchester United 2-1 Aston Villa