Manchester United v Aston Villa: Line-ups, stats and preview

Manchester United and Aston Villa meet at Old Trafford in a crucial game in the race for Champions League football on Sunday, as Michael Carrick’s men look to bounce back from the first defeat of his interim tenure.

United saw a seven-game unbeaten run under Carrick come to an end nine days ago as a 90th-minute William Osula goal gave 10-man Newcastle United a 2-1 win at St James’ Park.

The Red Devils have not played since, leaving them plenty of time to stew over a disappointing display.

Carrick will be keen to see a reaction from his players, and is embracing the importance of a game between two teams level on points in third and fourth place in the Premier League, with United above Villa on goal difference.

Asked if this is the biggest test of his second spell as United boss, Carrick said: “It’s always about what’s next, how you’re going to react, whether you’ve won, whether or not you’ve drawn, what’s going to be the reaction, what’s the group, what are the emotions in it, how do we make the best of it, what is the motivation for the next game and driving that forward.

“I understand with it being the first defeat, if you like, it feels a little bit different, but it’s going to come at some point. You look through the league, it’s a tough league.

“Most teams if not every team has suffered that in recent times so it’s putting things in perspective really and kind of putting it in shape where we know where we can improve, what we can do better.

“It’s an important game, there’s no getting away from it, is there? There’s an awful lot to play for, so I’m fully embracing the situation at the moment and looking forward to the next game.”

Villa are winless in their last three games in the league, but were impressive in their 1-0 Europa League win at Lille on Thursday.

Still, Villa boss Unai Emery knows his side face a stern challenge if they are to back up that victory with a rare win at Old Trafford.

“We are going to face Manchester United on Sunday and they are now feeling confident, they’re strong at home, they’re playing good football and they have very good players,” said Emery.

“It’s a really huge challenge on Sunday, but analysing how we are in the table overall, we are fourth with the same points as Manchester United with 51 and they are third.

“Sunday is day 30 and there are still points to play for, a lot of points to play for. There are still matches to play, and we are so, so motivated in the two competitions we are fighting in.

“The result yesterday was fantastic and gave us confidence but how we achieved it was important for us because I think we played a good match.

“The level we are going to face on Sunday is a high level.”

Team news for Manchester United v Aston Villa

United will have Noussair Mazraoui despite the defender going off injured in the defeat to Newcastle.

But Lisandro Martinez will miss out with a calf problem, while Mason Mount (knock), Matthijs de Ligt (back) and Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) are also still unavailable.

Though John McGinn returned from injury against Lille, fellow midfielders Youri Tielemans (ankle) and Boubacar Kamara (knee) remain sidelined.

Matty Cash is a doubt with a calf complaint.

Predicted line-ups for Manchester United v Aston Villa

Manchester United: Lammens; Mazraoui, Yoro, Maguire, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko.

Aston Villa: Martinez; Bogarde, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Luiz, Onana, Sancho, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins.

Where to watch Manchester United v Aston Villa: TV and online streams

Manchester United v Aston Villa kicks off at 2pm UK time. It will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. It can also be streamed via Sky Go.

Stats for Manchester United v Aston Villa

• United have lost just two of their last 37 home league games against Villa (W28 D7), going down 1-0 both times in December 2009 and September 2021.
• Following their 2-1 win in December, Villa are looking to complete the league double over United for the first time since 1954-55.
• United have kept 30 clean sheets against Villa in the Premier League – only Arsenal have kept more against a single opponent in the competition (31 vs Newcastle).
• United have scored in their last 17 Premier League games, since losing 1-0 to Everton in November. They last had a longer scoring streak between November 2012 and April 2013 under Alex Ferguson (23).
• Villa have won just three of their last 11 Premier League games (D3 L5); since the first game in this run (1-4 defeat to Arsenal on Dec 30th), only four sides have accrued fewer points than Unai Emery’s side (12) in the competition.
• Carrick has won all five of his Premier League home games as United manager (1 in 2021, 4 in 2026); only three managers have won each of their first six home matches in the competition: Sven-Göran Eriksson (first 9 in 2007), Carlo Ancelotti (first 7 in 2009), and Manuel Pellegrini (first 11 in 2013-14).
• Bruno Fernandes’ goals and assists have been worth 23 points to United this season. In Premier League history, only three players’ goal involvements have been worth more to the Red Devils in a campaign – Robin van Persie in 2012-13 (38), Eric Cantona in 1993-94 (26) and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007-08 (25).

Prediction for Manchester United v Aston Villa

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