Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Boxing Day in the Premier League, looking to return to winning ways.
High-flying Villa sit third in the league standings following the latest round of fixtures and is sure to provide a tough test. Erik ten Hag’s men will be determined as we look to bounce back from our disappointing defeat against West Ham on Saturday.
The Midlands outfit will be United’s final visitors to Old Trafford in 2023, before they end the year away to Nottingham Forest on Saturday 30th December at The City Ground.
TEAM NEWS
The visitors will be without two players through suspension, Boubacar Kamara serves the second of his three-match ban, while Matty Cash is also set to miss out having picked up his fifth booking of the season last time out against Sheffield United.
Emery will definitely be without Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia as the duo remain long-term absentees, while Robin Olsen, Pau Torres, Youri Tielemans and Bertrand Traore could also be missing due to injury.
The Villans have been one of the standout sides in the Premier League this campaign, and they currently sit in third place as we edge closer to the halfway point of 2023/24.
Facing Sheffield United in their most recent outing on Friday night, Emery’s side lost their 100 percent league record at Villa Park this term in a 1-1 draw – only maintaining their unbeaten record through Nicolo Zaniolo’s last-gasp equalizing goal, in the seventh-minute of stoppage-time.
The two teams will go head-to-head for the 197th time on Tuesday – United has a vastly superior record, having won 104 of the past encounters, to Villa’s 51 (41 draws).
In this fixture last season, Bruno Fernandes scored the only goal of the game – our captain placed the ball past Emiliano Martinez after the goalkeeper had initially saved Marcus Rashford’s low effort.
At Villa Park, back in October 2022, the home side recorded a 3-1 victory in Emery’s first game as Villa manager.
Days later, the two sides met again, as the Reds twice came from behind to win a six-goal thriller at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup third round.
Anthony Martial, Rashford, Fernandes, and Scott McTominay were on the scoresheet for Ten Hag’s men, as we overcame the first hurdle of our triumphant campaign in that competition.
Be the first to comment