Manchester United vs Aston Villa: Match preview, team news and prediction

Manchester United welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

United suffered their first defeat under manager Michael Carrick last time out, losing 2-1 at Newcastle United.

Similarly, Villa lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea, dropping them to fourth in the standings.

Match preview

There have been several memorable encounters between United and Villa. Sunday’s contest could produce another, with both sides pushing for Champions League qualification.

United will look to improve on their performance against Newcastle. They played with numerical advantage for a good portion of the fixture, but failed to capitalise.

United have collected 16 points from their last six league home games — the most in the division within that period. They have not lost on their patch since November’s 1-0 defeat to Everton.

The Mancunian giants have also won their last five home games against Villa across all competitions.

Villa have suffered a dip in form and could drop to sixth if results go against them this weekend.

Only three sides have picked up fewer points than the Villans in the past six games.

That said, the visitors claimed a 1-0 victory at Lille in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, providing them with a timely boost.

Team news

United have received an injury boost with Mason Mount returning to training. Noussair Mazraoui is also fit after limping off against Newcastle.

However, Lisandro Martinez (calf), Matthijs de Ligt (back) and Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) remain in the treatment room.

For Villa, Ross Barkley and Alysson have been declared fit after missing the Lille clash.

Matty Cash will face a late fitness test, but Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans remain sidelined. Jadon Sancho is ineligible to feature.

Prediction

We fancy United to win 2-1.

Stats from whoscored.com

Article written by Henry Thornton .