Manchester United will be aiming to return to winning ways when they entertain Aston Villa in the Premier League this afternoon.
The Red Devils were 2-0 ahead against Tottenham Hotspur in midweek but squandered the advantage to share the spoils in the second half.
Erik ten Hag will be eyeing a better response against the Villains, who have been one of the best performing clubs after the World Cup.
United are currently fourth in the table, six points ahead of Villa and Spurs with two games in hand.
They have their Champions League destiny in their own hands but there is still work to do to secure Champions League qualification.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
David de Gea has played every minute of the Premier League campaign thus far. The Spaniard has 14 clean sheets to his name and he is currently leading the Golden Glove race. The 32-year-old is expected to continue in goal.
Ten Hag made the surprise decision to take off Aaron Wan-Bissaka in midweek. This coincided with United’s lack of control in defence. The 25-year-old should retain his right-back role against Villa.
Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are set to continue at the heart of the club’s defence with Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire injured. The latter suffered a knock in training this week.
Tyrell Malacia looked out of sorts with his positioning coming off the bench against Spurs. Hence, Diogo Dalot is widely expected to continue in the left-back position ahead of the Dutchman.
In the centre of the park, Casemiro is set to be partnered by Christian Eriksen. Similar to Wan-Bissaka, Ten Hag’s decision to take off Eriksen against Spurs led to criticism from some fans.
Fred, who replaced him in the number eight role, lost possession on nine occasions in the final 30 minutes. Casemiro also needs to step up after winning just one ground duel in midweek.
Further forward, we don’t anticipate any changes. Jadon Sancho was lively early on against Spurs. He scored the opening goal and was denied a second with a superb goal-line clearance.
He is expected to start on the left wing. Bruno Fernandes will feature in his customary number 10 role while Antony is almost an undisputed starter from the right side of the attack.
Marcus Rashford fared impressively up front against Spurs with a goal and an assist. He has now managed 40 goal contributions this season and will be aiming to add to that tally.
How Man Utd could line up against Aston Villa
Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Sofascore.com
