Aston Villa vs Man Utd Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man & Predicted Score

Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon looking to get their title defence back on track.

Successive 1-0 league defeats to Everton and Newcastle at Old Trafford have derailed United’s season and left them 13 points behind leaders Arsenal.

The Red Devils did get back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday that ensured they progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners, but the performance was still unconvincing so David Moyes will be looking to make a statement of intent this weekend.

They face a Villa side that saw their five-game unbeaten run ended with a 2-0 defeat away at Fulham last Sunday to leave them sitting 11th in the division, but another shock win over the defending champions would see Paul Lambert’s men move level on points with the visitors.

However, in order to do so Villa must improve upon a dismal record that’s seen them register just one victory over United in their last 35 league meetings.

Team News

Villa will have to make do without influential midfielder Fabian Delph after he picked up his fifth booking of the season and therefore serves a one-match ban.

Lambert is also without captain Ron Vlaar who is nursing a calf injury and he joins Libor Kozak, Joe Bennett, Charles N’Zogbia and Jores Okore on the sidelines.

However, full-back Antonio Luna is back in contention after recovering from a groin injury and could come in at left-back.

United have been dealt a huge blow with the news that Robin van Persie is out for a month with a thigh injury. Wayne Rooney returns from a domestic ban and will start up front with Shinji Kagawa potentially coming in to support in attack.

Moyes is sweating on the fitness of Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic but both are likely to overcome knocks, but Chris Smalling may miss out with a hamstring problem.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Wayne Rooney: The striker is going to have to step up with RVP on the sidelines and he’ll be the man United will look to this weekend. Villa will have to keep Rooney quiet if they want to have any chance of winning this one.

Betting & Predicted Score

United are struggling of late and following back-to-back home defeats to Everton and Newcastle, many punters may shy away from backing them. However, United’s decline presents us with the opportunity to find some real value. Whether it be a couple of quid on an accumulator or major betting on the Super Bowl, fans and gamblers will always be interested in backing a big team if some value can be found.

You can find odds of 5/6 for a United win this weekend, which is extremely generous when you consider their record against Villa in recent years. It’s almost unthinkable that Moyes would guide the team to a third consecutive league defeat, so I’d be tempted to go with an away win and United to win 2-0. Aston Villa 0-2 Man Utd.

What would be your starting line-up and whats your predicted score? Share your views below.