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Match preview - Manchester United vs. Aston Villa
Thursday 10 December 2009
Saturday’s late kick-off features two sides coming off the back of big wins in the last round of league fixtures. Although United’s victory over West Ham was expected more than Villa’s over Hull, United’s injury predicament makes their win more impressive. When the two meet on Saturday, Manchester Utd will be eight points clear of Aston Villa but Villa fans will arguably be the happier of the two with how their team’s season has gone so far.
United have seemingly failed to shake off the loss of their superstar Cristiano Ronaldo whilst Villa have aptly replaced Gareth Barry with Stewart Downing. Recent meetings between the two have more often than not favoured the Red Devils - last year’s meeting at Old Trafford was pointed to as the catalyst for United’s eventual first place position. Ronaldo and Federico Macheda broke Villa hearts with a late goal to deny them a much needed victory in their assault on the top four.
Manchester United - By the end of Saturday’s game against West Ham, United’s back line consisted of Ryan Giggs at left-back, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick in the centre and Darren Fletcher at right-back. This is an extremely worrying prospect for Sir Alex Ferguson as he will know that such a back four against Villa’s pace of Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young will not cope as admirably as they did against the Hammers. Fortunately for Fergie, the signs look good for Nemanja Vidic as he is expected to start against Villa.
United boss Sir Alex can take solace that generally, his attack score more than his defence concedes. On average, United have scored 2.27 goals a game this season and Fergie will hope that the likes of Wayne Rooney and Giggs can penetrate Villa’s defence to a sufficient level. Tomasz Kuszczak is likely to start in goal again but selection of United’s defence and midfield is up for debate.
29 Kuszczak
6 Brown - 16 Carrick - 15 Vidic - 3 Evra
25 Valencia - 24 Fletcher - 18 Scholes - 11 Giggs
10 Rooney - 9 Berbatov
Aston Villa - Martin O’Neill’s side will enter this game full of confidence – a place in the semi-final of the Carling Cup and an emphatic victory over Hull followed a disappointing draw against Burnley. The return of Stewart Downing appears to have revitalised the side, in particular Villa’s midfield. Downing’s place in the side has meant that Villa’s two other wingers, Ashley Young and James Milner can now flit from one side to another, tormenting the opposition's defence. Young appears to have found form again after an uninspiring start to season and with John Carew and Emile Heskey back on the goal hunt, the claret and blue outfit and their fans will be optimistic about their side’s chances of breaking the enigma that is the barrier between the top four and everybody else.
Villa’s fifth place is mainly down to the consistently astute defending provided by new acquisitions Richard Dunne and Stephen Warnock, something O’Neill will be hoping continues on Saturday.
1 Friedel
2 L Young - 24 Cuellar - 5 Dunne - 25 Warnock
8 Milner - 19 Petrov - 6 Downing - 7 A Young
11 Agbonlahor - 18 Heskey
Both sides will want to keep the pressure on those directly above them. By the time this game commences, there is a distinct possibility that United could be five points behind Chelsea and Aston Villa could be four behind Tottenham, depending on how results go. The history books would point to a United victory, but O’Neill’s men have made a habit of nullifying the top teams this season and have already defeated Chelsea and Liverpool. Although not expected, it would not be a complete surprise if Villa left Old Trafford with a win to their name.
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