Match Preview
Aston Villa will look to maintain their improbable challenge for the Premier League title by stretching their winning run to 10 games when they face Manchester United on Sunday.
Villa are third in the table, just three points behind leaders Arsenal, who face Everton on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s men have not lost a game since their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, and will be expected to continue their run against an inconsistent United side that has not kept a clean sheet since the 2-0 win over Sunderland on October 4.
Yet Ruben Amorim’s side have won their last two away games, beating Crystal Palace and Wolves, and Emery certainly is not underestimating the visitors.
“Very difficult,” Emery said of the challenge posed by the Red Devils.
“Of course, it’s United. And United, not only for [their] history as well, how they are trying to build a team, and they are, this year, of course, trying to get [a] top position.
“They are performing very, very well away, very well. And winning matches and performing and playing fantastic.
“At home, they are having some more problems than away, but I respect them a lot because their history, how they are performing, with the coach, new coach, last year and this year I think they are getting better.
“And with the players they have, they have very, very good players and offensively they are performing fantastic.
“And we are ready, but we are respecting them and we are being humble. Be humble, especially in this moment, we must be humble, to try to understand why we are performing like we are.”
United were held to a 4-4 draw at home by Bournemouth last time out.
They are just two points outside of the top four going into the weekend despite taking only one point from their last three fixtures at Old Trafford.
Amorim’s side led three times against Bournemouth before conceding an 84th-minute equaliser and were grateful to some fine saves from Senne Lammens that prevented the Cherries from taking all three points late on.
Asked how his side find the balance between attack and defence, Amorim told his pre-match press conference: “We watched the game again against Bournemouth, we can avoid those goals. It was a lot of transition, we have to put everything on the line when we are defending.
“Sometimes we are not doing that. We need to work on some details to suffer less goals because, in the end, it’s going to make the difference.”
Amorim believes United are facing a side that can go all the way and beat Arsenal and City to the title.
He added: “Everything can happen. I think they have a manager with a lot of experience. You can see when you watch Villa play, you can sense it’s a very mature team.
“[Unai Emery] doesn’t panic when he’s losing, he doesn’t feel overwhelmed when he’s winning, he can control the emotion all the time.
“I think they are a very strong team, if they are going to fight until the end [for the title]? I don’t know. But they are capable of that.”
Team news for Aston Villa v Manchester United
Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez could return from a back problem, but Pau Torres (calf), Tyrone Mings (thigh) and Ross Barkley (knee) are all still out. Jadon Sancho is ineligible to face his parent club, while Harvey Elliott has been absent from training due to an illness.
