Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Greek
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Ukrainian
Aston Villa take on Manchester United in Sunday’s late Premier League fixture. The game takes place at Villa Park and kicks off at 4:30pm.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa ended their poor run of form with a thumping victory over struggling Sheffield United last weekend. The Villains were relentless and made a lightning quick start at Bramall Lane. They were 4-0 up by the 30th minute and probably could have added to their tally in the second period.
Match has ended
Bet £10 on Multiples Get £2 Free Bet on Multiples at Betfair Sportsbook
Get it & Bet It Now!
Nevertheless, Villa slumped to an FA Cup defeat on Wednesday as Chelsea ran out comfortable winners in the Midlands. Unai Emery admits that he has a lot of work to do and has described this weekend’s clash as ‘very important’. Villa have been renowned for their exceptional home form this season, yet they’ve now won just one of their last four at this venue and they need to improve their recent performances. Since losing to Manchester United on Boxing Day, Villa have won just three of their last seven across all competitions including an FA Cup success against Championship outfit Middlesbrough. Their other victories came against the current bottom two, Burnley and Sheffield United.
Villa have issues at the back with Ezri Konsa ruled out for four weeks. The 26-year old has been a constant under Emery and his defensive versatility has come in very handy this season, however, he is unlikely to return to the XI until mid-March. With Mings and Digne also on the sidelines, the hosts look a little short at the back, although Pau Torres is poised to return and could be fit enough to play some part on Sunday afternoon.
Emery admits that his side’s performances haven’t been good enough and with the UEFA Conference League set to return later this month, the former Arsenal boss will have to find a way to improve energy levels over the coming weeks.
Man United
Once again, Manchester United are one of the in-form sides in the top flight. Erik Ten Haag is still under pressure and the club remain supposedly ‘in crisis’, however, they have recaptured their form and seem to be firing on all cylinders going forward. The Red Devils have fired in seven goals across their last two matches and since beating Villa 3-2 on Boxing Day, they’ve notched ten times across their last four games. They also knocked four past League Two Newport County in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It may have taken a little longer than anticipated, but Rasmus Hojlund has finally found his feet in the top flight. The former Atalanta striker has scored four in four in the EPL and will be hoping to add to his tally this weekend. The under-fire Marcus Rashford has also got on the scoresheet with Alejandro Garnacho also providing some much-needed spark going forward.
Ten Haag has recently promoted a number of youngsters to the first team and the Dutch boss has not been afraid to give his more inexperienced players some much-needed minutes. Kobbie Mainoo has made the biggest impression whereas Omari Forson and Willy Kambwala have also featured sporadically.
United’s away form has been fairly poor this season, yet they got back to winning ways last time at Molineux. Despite conceding an injury-time goal to the hosts, they managed to gather their thoughts, and quickly hit a winner. Although they’ve been far better recently, they haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last three away games and have shipped 2+ in each of those contests.
Head to Head
Manchester United have dominated this match-up in recent seasons and have won each of the last two PL meetings. They were also victorious (4-2) in the EFL Cup. Nevertheless, Villa were victorious during the last meeting at Villa Park in November 2022 with goals from Lucas Digne, Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey. That was Villa’s first home victory in the EPL since 1995, although they have been victorious in the EFL Cup during that time.
There are always plenty of goals between these two sides. Five of the last six meetings have featured at least three goals.
Key Betting Stats
- Man United haven’t conceded a first half goal on the road since October 21st.
- Five of the last seven United away games have been goalless at the break.
- BTTS has landed in eight of Villa’s last ten home matches
- Villa hadn’t conceded a first half goal at home until December 30th, yet they’ve subsequently conceded three first half goals across their last two matches here.
- 32% of Villa’s goals have been scored after the 70th minute.
- All six of Douglas Luiz’s goals have been scored at Villa Park.
Match Prediction
This is an interesting match between two sides who appear to be going in opposite directions. Villa are struggling to defend and United are looking sharp in the final third. The Red Devils could edge this.
Winning Combo
Man United Double Chance, BTTS and Over 2.5 Goals
15/8 with Betfair
Best Bookmaker
We recommend using Betfair for betting on this weekend’s fixtures. Their popular Bet Builder allows you to build your own match accumulator by combining a range of different markets. This is how we have created our winning combo for this game.
If you haven’t already signed up to Betfair, you can also get £30 in free bets when you sign up and bet £10 on the Sportsbook.
