Wednesday’s defeat at Wigan was an ill-timed blip and also made for unpleasant viewing, but while it added another twist to a Premier League title race that many – mistakenly, because it’s not over until the title is secure – considered to be all over, Manchester United are still in full control of their destiny.
City closed the gap to two points with a 6-1 win at Norwich yesterday, but United can restore their lead to five points with a home win over Aston Villa in today’s only Premier League tie.
United have won all six of their home league matches in 2012, and a seventh win in a row would continue United’s dominance over Villa. Villa have only one win over United since 1995, and considering that they’re winless in their last five away matches, the odds are strongly against them today.
Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Young, Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Jones, Cleverley, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Hernandez.
Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Collins, Baker, Lichaj, Bannan, Gardner, Clark, Ireland, Weimann, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Guzan, Johnson, Delfouneso, Heskey, N’Zogbia, Cuellar, Carruthers.
