Aston Villa had a nightmare start to this season’s Premier League campaign when they were subjected to a brutal 5-1 humbling by Newcastle United at St James’ Park in their season opener. Still, the Villans have bounced back from that setback and given a good account of themselves so far this season. Meanwhile, after starting their league season with an unconvincing 1-0 win against Wolves, Manchester United has struggled to gather significant momentum in the Premier League.

Unai Emery and Aston Villa conducted some excellent business over the summer. Recruiting talents like Moussa Diaby from German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, Spanish defender Pau Torres from La Liga club side Villarreal, Nicolo Zaniolo on loan from Turkish giants Galatasaray, Clement Lenglet also on loan from Barcelona, and Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans on a free transfer from Leicester City.

The Villans also had several departures with young center-forward Cameron Archer leaving for Sheffield United, Marvelous Nakamba joining Luton Town, and Keinan Davis signing for Serie A side Udinese Calcio. Veteran English left-back Ashley Young left for Everton on a free transfer while Philippe Coutinho and Morgan Sanson both sealed loan moves to Al-Duhail FC and OGC Nice respectively.

Manchester United was quite busy over the summer as well, securing the services of some exciting talents, including Young Danish center-forward Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, Mason Mount from Premier League rivals Chelsea, current starting goalkeeper Andre Onana from last season’s Champions League finalists Inter Milan and Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce. Sofyan Amrabat and Sergio Reguilon were signed on loan from Fiorentina and  Tottenham Hotspur. At the same time, Jonny Evans joined for his second spell at the club on a free transfer from Leicester.

Regarding exits, the Red Devils let go of 16 members of their first-team squad from last season. Backup goalkeeper Dean Henderson left for Crystal Palace, Anthony Elanga joined Nottingham Forest, Fred joined Fenerbahce, reserve goalkeeper Matej Kovar signed for Bayer Leverkusen, and Alex Telles joined Saudi club side Al-Nassr. At the same time, Zidane Iqbal penned for Eredivisie side Utrecht. Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams both secured loan moves away to Getafe and Ipswich Town, respectively with Eric Bailly joining Besiktas on a free transfer. Former goalkeeper David de Gea also left the club after his contract expired last season and remains without a club presently. At the end of their loan spells, Marcel Sanitizer, Wout Weghorst, and Jack Butland all returned to their parent teams.

Aston Villa have had an excellent season so far in the Premier League. The Villans have not dropped a single point at home, embarking on a very impressive seven-game winning run at Villa Park this season. This impressive run of form at home has seen them beat the likes of Everton, Crystal Palace, Brighton, West Ham United, Luton Town, and Fulham with the latest victims of their scintillating home form being reigning champions Manchester City.

Aston Villa’s recent form has been quite decent, with the Villans picking up ten points from the last fifteen available. Within this period, Emery’s men recorded impressive victories against Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City respectively, an exciting 2-2 draw against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium with their only defeat in this time coming against Nottingham Forest at City Ground, the match ended 2-0.

Manchester United despite having a shaky start to their Premier League campaign seem to be finding their feet again somehow. Their unconvincing 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers was followed by a disappointing 2-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils suffered disappointing losses against Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, and local rivals Manchester City, condemning them to five defeats in their first ten league games.

However, the Red Devils appear to have found their mojo if recent results are anything to go by as Erik Ten Hag’s men have won four of their last five games in the Premier League. This resurgence was kick-started at Craven Cottage when Manchester United’s captain Bruno Fernandes scored in stoppage time to hand the Red Devils a well-deserved 1-0 win. Manchester United made it three consecutive wins for the first time this campaign with further victories against Luton Town and Everton before slumming to another disappointing defeat at the hands of Newcastle United. The Red Devils, however bounced back immediately with a win against big rivals Chelsea.

At the time of writing, Aston Villa is in third place on the Premier League standings after amassing 32 points from fifteen games. The Villans are four points off first-placed Arsenal who have 36 points while Manchester United occupies 6th position with a total of 27 points from fifteen. The Red Devils are level on points with Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place and just three points off a top-four spot.

Head to Head statistics show that Aston Villa and Manchester United have played 37 matches between them in the Premier League. This fixture has seen the Villans win just 4 of those matches (scoring 31 goals) while Manchester United has won 26 games (scoring 77 goals) with 7 draws.

Match tickets

The epic match at Villa Park in Birmingham kicks off on Saturday 10th February 2024, at 3 PM UK time. 

The magnificent 42,530-capacity stadium will host this thrilling fixture between two teams eyeing a place in the UEFA Champions League next season.

Getting tickets for the Aston Villa v Manchester United tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels. 

Team news

Line-ups

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa typically adopts high defensive lines to defend away from goal. They press aggressively, looking to minimize spaces between the lines and thriving off transitional attacks.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Luiz, McGin, Bailey, Tielemans, Watkins

Erik Ten Hag encourages his team to defend on the front foot, pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch and creating attacking opportunities from such situations.

Manchester United: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw, Amrabat, McTominay, Fernandes, Anthony, Hojlund, Garnacho

Prediction

Aston Villa have been mighty impressive at home this season, winning all their Premier League matches at Villa Park. Still, it remains to be seen if their high defensive line can cope with Manchester United’s high press and pacey wingers.

Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester United