Manchester United vs Aston Villa. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Manchester United FC will host Aston Villa FC in the English Premier League 19th round match at the Old Trafford Stadium. The fixture will take place on Wednesday, December 27, beginning at 01:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Manchester United News & Current Form: 

Manchester United are getting further and further away from not only a place in the top 4, but also from the top ten. At the moment, the Mancunians have a series of three matches without a win in the Premier League and sit in eighth position in the table on the eve of the start of the 19th round with 30 points in their possession.

The team of Erik ten Hag is more and more painful to watch with each new round. In November, they won three consecutive league games and it looked like they were going to continue their run of victories, but in reality, nothing of the sort has happened.

They crashed out of the UEFA Champions League, finishing in last place in a quartet with FC Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray – a disgrace in itself. In addition, the Devils set an anti-record for English clubs for the number of goals conceded in the group stage of the tournament – 15 goals.

In parallel, the results in the EPL began to deteriorate: in the last five games, they have only one victory over Chelsea FC – 2:1, a draw with Liverpool FC – 0:0, and they lost to Newcastle United FC, AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United FC with a total score of 0:6.

British journalist and TV presenter Piers Morgan has mocked coach ten Hag after their defeat to the Hammers. He mockingly pointed out that the coach had broken many records. In addition, rumors are already emerging about the imminent resignation of the current coach in favor of Graham Potter.

The Mancunians have only broken anti-records so far. The Devils have failed to score in four consecutive matches for the first time since 1992. In addition, MU have lost 13 of the season’s 26 meetings. The only other time they had more defeats before Christmas was in the 1930/1931 season (16), when the club finished 22nd in the table in the English Championship. 

Considering the results of the team, it became known that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is going to buy 25 percent of the club’s shares and aims to return the team to its former glory. 

Also speaking about purchases, it is worth noting that Bologna FC striker Joshua Zirkzee is one of the main transfer targets of Manchester United. In the current season, the player has played 19 matches for the Italian club, scored 8 goals and made 4 goal assists.

The star of the previous season Marcus Rashford scored only 2 goals in 17 games in 23/24 season

The 22-year-old Dutchman was bought from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022 for €8.5m and his transfer is currently valued at €35-40m. The German club have retained the right to buy Zirkzee back for €22m, but are unlikely to utilize it due to a stacked attacking line. However, Munich will receive 50 per cent of the resale value of the player.

The disappointing results and poor performance of the team are partly due to a large number of injuries: Mason Mount, Christian Eriksen, Jadon Sancho, Lisandro Martinez, Amad Diallo, Tyrell Malacia, Harry Maguire, Anthony Martial, Victor Lindelof and Casemiro will not play against Aston Villa.

It seems that before each new round, the head coach does not know what to expect from his team. Due to the injuries of the center-backs, which already resemble a cycle, they have to create new combinations. 

Coaches are so desperate, they had to put academy players on the field, in the match against West Ham 19-year-old Willy Kambwala came into the center of defense. The attack is also struggling and, at times, working in waste. As much as everyone admired the performance of Marcus Rashford last season, he is playing so poorly in the current season, just two goals in 17 games for the top scorer of the team is beyond the realms of possibility.

There is also the management, which no one calls adequate anymore, problems with the training base, scandals with players for one reason or another, constant talk about changing the head coach, failure in the Champions League. And that’s just what lies on the surface. The team continues to set anti-records, and somewhere Sir Alex Ferguson, who mined glory for this team, is clutching at his heart. 

Aston Villa News & Current Form: 

Unlike the upcoming opponent, Aston Villa are on the rise. They are progressing actively under the guidance of Unai Emery. At the moment, the Lions are on the third line in the standings, trailing the leading Arsenal by just one point.

This is a great indicator for a team that is not considered a grandee of English football. But this season Villa showed that they are capable of getting into the fight for the highest places.

It is also worth noting that this season the Lions are the second most prolific team in the entire Premier League. Emery’s wards scored more than even the notorious Manchester City. In 18 rounds, the Villans have scored 38 goals (2.11 average per game) – an excellent figure. Moreover, in the last three away fixtures, they have scored at least twice, and therefore now have a good chance to reach this mark.

In the last seven rounds in the championship Birmingham lost points only in meetings with Bournemouth (2:2) and Sheffield United FC (1:1), as a result this tie interrupted the record winning streak of the Lions at home in the EPL, which totalled 15 matches. They beat Fulham FC (3:1), Tottenham Hotspur FC (2:1), Manchester City (1:0), Arsenal FC (1:0) and Brentford FC (2:1). 

If they had beaten Sheffield, they would have climbed to the first line in the standings. Emery’s side won by a large margin in all statistical indicators, but almost suffered a defeat after conceding in the end. They managed to equalize only on 90+7 minutes, when Italian midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo had an accurate shot. 

For him, it was his first goal scored in the English league. So far, the player’s adaptation in a new championship is going with a squeak, for the most part he remains on the bench and occasionally comes on as a substitute.

Unai Emery – coach who transformed Aston Villa

The head coach in the post-match interview noted that it is very difficult to win every meeting, and also said that he was proud of the work done, players and fans of Aston Villa. 

Compared to the Mancunians, this team is an example of adequate decisions and full understanding of the management with the coaching staff and coaches with the players. Once again we have to pay tribute to the Spanish specialist Unai Emery, who some skeptics were forced to acknowledge as a strong coach. Everyone has heard about his success in European competition and it was interesting to see how he would do in England. 

The previous season turned out to be of little significance in this sense. Still, he was not the one who prepared the team for the championship, but they managed to get into the UEFA Europa Conference League, where Aston Villa took first place in their group, and in the spring we will again assess how strong the magic of the coach is in European tournaments.

In terms of personnel, the team is in relatively good health. Midfielder Boubacar Kamara and defender Matty Cash will miss the meeting due to disqualifications. Defender Tyrone Mings, striker Bertrand Traore and midfielder Youri Tielemans will not play due to injuries.

Don`t miss out 👉: Top 5 Uncapped Players Signed at the  IPL 2024 Auction

Manchester United form guide: L-W-L-L-D-L

Aston Villa form guide: D-W-W-D-W-D

Manchester United vs Aston Villa Head-To-Head Record:

• January 15, 2022: Aston Villa 2 – 2 Manchester United (Premier League);
• November 6, 2022: Aston Villa 3 – 1 Manchester United (Premier League);
• November 10, 2022: Manchester United  4 – 2 Aston Villa (League Cup);
• April 30, 2023: Manchester United  1 – 0 Aston Villa (Premier League).

Manchester United vs Aston Villa Predicted XI:

Manchester United’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Onana; Dalot, Evans, Varane, Reguilon; McTominay, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford.

Aston Villa’s possible starting lineup (4-4-1-1): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Lenglet, Moreno; Zaniolo, McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Diaby, Watkins.

Statistical preview of the match Manchester United vs Aston Villa:

• Manchester United’s First XI average age is 27.4 years, Aston Villa’s First XI average age is 27.6 years.
• Craig Pawson has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 16 games this season, showing an average of 4.63 Yellow Cards and also whistles 22.88 fouls per game. 
• The total value of MU’s squad is 795 mln euros, while Villa’s total is 638 mln euros.
• Scott McTominay is Manchester United’s top scorer with 5 goals scored. Bruno Fernandes is the assist leader with 3 assists.
• At least one team has failed to score in 8 of Manchester United’s 9 previous games in the Premier League.
• On their field, MU have a 15-match streak without draws in the league (11 wins and 4 losses).
• Mancunians have scored three goals in 4 of their last 5 home games in the EPL.
• The team’s top scorer is forward Ollie Watkins, who has 9 goals on his account. He is also the leader among assistants, having given his teammates 6 assists.
• Both teams have scored in 9 of Aston Villa’s 12 previous games in the Premier League.
• Villa have a 7-match unbeaten streak in the championship (5 wins and 2 draws).
• On the road the Lions did not concede in three consecutive matches in the championship (2 wins and 1 draw).
• MU can not score in 4 matches in EPL.
• Aston Villa scored more than twice as many goals in the EPL than Manchester United (38 vs. 18).

What has been said before the match:

Gaffer of the Reds Erik ten Hag about being distracted by the Christmas holidays:

“We are all distracted by Christmas. With family, we want to see family and celebrate with family, but also we have to do our job. So get ready, this is a massive week with three games and I think we can change the story of the season. This is an opportunity to do that.”

“We all have to take the responsibility, especially for our fans who are always behind us, even in bad periods, I think they deserve to see a good team with spirit and conviction.”

Unai Emery, coach of the Aston Villa, ahead of the Boxing Day Clash:

“The Premier League after 38 matches is deserving of each team’s position. We are now on match 18, we are going to finish in Manchester on Tuesday on match 19, the first half of the season. And we are demanding.”

“We are happy. I am proud of our work, our way, with our supporters and the players. But I want to finish on Tuesday trying to face Manchester United, really, how we can face them being in this moment better than them in the table. They are contenders to be in the top seven, top four teams more than us.”

“For example, we played in Newcastle and we lost, we played in Liverpool and we lost, we played in Tottenham and we won, we played in Chelsea and we won.

“A lot of matches against the top seven teams/contenders in the table we played at home – Brighton, Manchester City and Arsenal. Now we are going to face again away and away is always the challenge more than at home, usually it’s more difficult.”

Manchester United vs Aston Villa Prediction:

In the current English Premier League campaign, Manchester United are performing much worse when compared to the previous season. Erik ten Hag’s team left the field without a goal in the last three EPL matches, in which they managed to accumulate only one point. In 18 meetings the Red Devils managed to net only 18 goals, only the main outsider Sheffield United (13 goals) has been less productive. Against Aston Villa, who are on a wild rise, the Mancunians will have a very difficult time, even in the Theatre of Dreams. The Lions are unbeaten in 7 consecutive EPL matches, having scored an average of 2.11 goals per 90 minutes (second best in the league), while showing a very credible and solid defense, conceding just 1.2 per game. Birmingham look much better than their opponents, even against the league’s mastodons they are able to completely block all approaches to their penalty area, while being ultra fluid and effective in transition into attack. Outings against Manchester City and Arsenal have shown how this system works in all its glory.

We expect that Manchester United will not be able to break the winless streak in the competition again, Unai Emery’s boys will be able to at least take one point to Birmingham. That being said, there is reason to expect plenty of corners – Manchester United and Aston Villa are among the EPL leaders in this aspect. Both teams average more than six corner kicks per match.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Aston Villa will not lose and the total of corners will be over 10.5 – Yes.

Don`t miss out 👉: Top 5 Unsold Players at the IPL 2024 Auction