Aston Villa look to continue their Premier League title challenge as they face Manchester United at Villa Park.
Villa will stay third regardless of the result but victory would move them back to within three points of league leaders – Arsenal.
Man Utd can move up to fifth with a win.
Team News
Emiliano Martinez could return for Villa after he missed their last two matches due to a back injury.
Harvey Elliott is a doubt due to illness.
Loanee, Jadon Sancho is ineligible to face his parent club so is unavailable for this match.
Pau Torres (knock), Ross Barkley (knee) and Tyrone Mings (hamstring) remain absent.
Man Utd will be without Casemiro who is suspended after he picked up his fifth booking in a dramatic 4-4 draw against Bournemouth.
Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are all away on international duty at Africa Cup of Nations.
Matthijs De Ligt (back) and Harry Maguire (muscle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa meet Man Utd at Villa Park on Sunday 21 December at 4:30pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Villa are winless in their last five meetings against Man Utd (D1, L4).
- Man Utd have won one of their last four visits to Villa (W1, D2, L1).
- Victory would see Utd keep three clean sheets against Villa in the league for the first time since August 2005 – December 2006.
- Villa have kept clean sheets in three of their last four league matches at home (W4), except for a 2-1 victory in their last home game against Arsenal in early December.
- Utd have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 13 league matches away from Old Trafford (W3, D4, L6).
Prediction
With one loss in their last 13 league matches and seen Arsenal plus Manchester City win on Saturday, Villa know that this is is absolutely must-win if want to keep pace going into a season-defining fortnight, but their defence has to be better than it was in their 3-2 comeback at West Ham.
Man Utd meanwhile were a team of two halves against Bournemouth because their attack was excellent yet their defence was pretty loose at times in terms of marking, but they now will need to cope without the presence of Diallo and Mbeumo which will be a challenge despite their attacking quality.
They however should still have enough attacking quality to match Villa but if their defence is as careless, I can see Unai Emery’s Villains taking the win.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Man Utd
Result: Aston Villa 2-1 Man Utd
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