Photo: Anthony Martial taking on the Aston Villa defence the last time Manchester United hosted Dean Smith’s team at Old Trafford. The match ended 2-2. (Getty Images).
Genuine title challengers
Manchester United start 2021 breathing down the necks of defending champions Liverpool’s and with a glorious chance to go level on points with the leaders when they host Aston Villa today.
This season is setting up nicely and could easily develop into a nail-biting Premier League title race. After enduring a shaky start to the season, under fire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team are hitting their stride and just about keeping pace with the reigning champions. The meeting of the top two at Anfield on January 17 will tell us much more about whether United can genuinely stay the course, but they are undoubtedly better placed than in most recent seasons.
In fact, the last time Manchester United was second at the end of the year on 30 points was their last title winning season, when former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s team was second to arch rivals Arsenal at the end of December.
Solskjaer’s tenure as United manager appeared to be heading nowhere last January, but the decision to sign ace Portuguese star Bruno Fernandes has proved transformative to the club’s fortunes. The Portuguese playmaker has scored 26 goals and contributed 17 assists in 45 matches for United since his debut as a substitute in a 0-0 draw against Wolves on February 1.
Since then, no Premier League player has been involved in more goals or contributed more assists than Fernandes. Only Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has scored more league goals.
Manchester United will take on the plucky Aston Villa in a late evening kick off with the Red Devils looking to extend their unbeaten record in the Premier League to 10 matches. Meanwhile, Villa travel to Old Trafford knowing that victory will move them to within one point of their second-placed opponents in the standings.
Man United have made a habit of prevailing in high-scoring matches this season, particularly away from home when they have often conceded an early goal. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have taken a great deal of satisfaction from a scrappy 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night, a result earned through a deflected 93rd-minute winner from Marcus Rashford. The result was harsh on the much-changed visitors who inevitably tired in their second game in 48 hours, but Solskjaer will prefer to focus on the perseverance of his players in a match where they were nullified effectively for the most part.
Rashford’s decisive strike is currently the difference between fourth and second, and a second successive win over Midlands opposition will put further distance between themselves and the most improved side in the division.
Manchester United were hit with the hammer blow of Edinson Cavani being suspended for three games including this one against Villa, Manchester City in the EFL Cup and Watford in the FA Cup. Luckily, he will be available for the show down against Liverpool at Ansfield.
Solskjaer and his United squad may not regard Villa as long-term rivals in the hunt for the Champions League places, but they will be aware that defeat on Friday evening would leave Dean Smith’s side in a strong position.
Sitting four points adrift of second position with a game in hand, Smith deserves the widespread praise that he has received for transforming Villa from a relegation-threatened side into a club which now have genuine ambitions to finish in the top four. However, Villa’s recent performances have come without any added pressure on their shoulders, and it remains to be seen how they will cope with expectations rising significantly among their fanbase. With 24 matches still to play, Smith will stress that his players cannot afford to get ahead of themselves, when consistency could be a deciding factor come the end of the season.
Head to head
Manchester United have won 11 and drawn 3 of the last 14 matches between the two. If history is something to go by, Manchester United are in poll position to take all three points at Old Trafford. Manchester United’s best result at home in recent times is a comprehensive 4-0 win, while Aston Villa’s best result away to Manchester United is a 2-2 draw in December 2019. However, if ever there is a moral boaster for Villa, one would believe that they would be smiling based on the fact that Victor Lindelof the scorer in the 2-2 is out injured and none of the scorers in the 4-0 defeat is presently at Manchester United.
Team news
Eric Bailly was excellent alongside Harry Maguire in helping keep a clean sheet in their last fixture. Lindelof is still suffering with back pain and will miss this fixture. Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba replaced Fred and Scott McTominay against Wolves and they looked amazing together in the center of the park. This however, means Ole has another big call to make in that area of the pitch which is whether to remain with the two or go back for the duo who helped his team to a 6-2 win a week ago, the biggest margin of victory in the Premier league at home since the 8-2 demolition of Arsenal.
Alex Telles should be up for option as he is deemed fit, despite being subjected to a heavy challenge in midweek and being replaced at the interval by Luke Shaw. “Alex is fine,” explained the manager. “That was just a tactical decision we made, a change to the set-up. “Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have been out through injury but, hopefully, there are still several options available as Aaron Wan-Bissaka returned from injury on Tuesday.”
Tyrone Mings returning from suspension, means either Kortney Hause or Ezri Konsa will drop down to the substitutes’ bench. Having recovered from a hamstring injury, Ross Barkley is in line to replace Bertrand Traore. The Villans will look to take advantage of their extra rest ahead of the game and are unlikely to make too many changes. However, former Red Tom Heaton has been on the bench for the past couple of games after a lengthy spell on the sidelines and might just be a surprise starter. Wesley and Trezeguet are set to still be unavailable for manager Dean Smith, who will look to talismanic midfielder Jack Grealish to shine, as he did in this fixture last season.
Having performed so impressively during the second half at Chelsea, Villa will fancy their chances of taking more points off their rivals for a European place. However, having more options to rotate will help Solskjaer, and the home side should have enough quality to outlast their in-form opponents.
My predictions 2-1
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