Aston Villa v Manchester United
Friday 14th August – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – England – Premier League
It is a rare Friday night game in the Premier League as Aston Villa entertain Manchester United at Villa Park in front of the Sky cameras. Both sides come into the game having won their opening fixture of the season, 1-0. That means – due to the scheduling of the fixtures more than anything – a win for either side would see them top the table heading into the rest of the weekend fixtures. And, when you consider the pessimism that surrounded Villa during pre-season – that would be something of an achievement should they manage it.
Having lost two of their key players in Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke during the summer, and following on the back of a pretty disastrous campaign last season, there was little positivity surrounding Villa Park. Tim Sherwood brought in a lot of new additions in an attempt to offset the departures and it was one of the new guard who made the difference on the opening day of the season. Rudy Gestede – signed from Blackburn – came off the bench to score the winner against Bournemouth and give his new team a much-needed lift. Friday’s game will prove to be another test as the welcome Louis Van Gaal’s side, but they held their own in this fixture last season when drawing 1-1. A similar result would ensure four points from their first two games and an unbeaten start, which you imagine Sherwood would be delighted with.
Now in his second season in charge, Van Gaal is going to be under more pressure to get closer to the title than he managed last season. His first campaign was all about qualifying for the Champions League and he managed to achieve that, albeit with a two-legged play-off with Club Brugges to negotiate. The first leg of that match takes place on Tuesday and whilst that would seem like a more pressing priority this early in the season, the manager will not want or slip-up here. Their opening game ended with a very narrow win at home to Tottenham, relying on a Kyle Walker own goal to give them the points. There remains a lot of improvement required if they are serious about mounting a challenge for the title, but it is a better start than they one they managed a year ago. Their first away trip, although not easy, certainly looks accommodating and provides a good opportunity for United to make it two wins in as many games.
Villa’s supporters seen just five home wins last season, the joint-second fewest in the Premier League. It is an area which Sherwood will be looking to improve drastically in his first full season in charge and a positive performance and result here would be the perfect way to begin their home campaign. On the flip side of that, United recorded the fewest number of wins away wins of any of last season’s top eighth and to improve on their position of fourth it goes without saying that they will have to find a way to pick up more points on their travels. What’s also interesting is that just two of their six away wins came against bottom 10 outfits.
You would expect Villa to be in a confident mood after their win at Bournemouth and the extra week of training would have allowed some of the signings that arrived later in the summer to get to grips with the managers ideas and their new team-mates. Gestede may have done enough to force his way into the starting eleven but his impact of the bench was there for all to see and Sherwood may stick with the pace of Jordan Ayew as his main attacking threat.
United blooded several of their own new additions last week including Memphis Depay and Sergio Romero. The latter was preferred to David de Gea and will take his place between the sticks again as the Spaniard looks set to move to Real Madrid before the close of the transfer window at the end of this month. Romero, to his credit, made several good saves on his debut and looks an able replacement.
Aston Villa v Manchester United Betting Tips
Aston Villa surprised me with how competent and disciplined they looked last week and if they can build on that performance on Friday they look capable of posing a lot of problems to this United team. Van Gaal’s men looked a little rusty, particularly in attack, against Spurs and it could be that it will be a few games before they reach the level of form the manager expects. Last season’s away from is also a concern and I’m not sure their odds are tempting enough to entice me to side with them. Instead, I think the best advice is to side with the draw. Tuesday’s game against Club Brugges is massive for United’s season, and whilst they are professionals, it is only human nature to expect a part of their concentration will be on that fixture. I have already made note that Villa themselves would be happy with a point and think that’s the way to go.
Draw 14/5 @ Bet365
