Manchester United vs Aston Villa: Prediction & Match Preview

Manchester United continue their pursuit of Premier League leaders Liverpool on New Year’s Day as they welcome Aston Villa.

These two are amongst the best in the whole competition and are also the most consistent. The Red Devils are placed fourth in the table, with a total of 27 points against their name, while their counterparts are placed just below – lagging by a single point.

Suffice it to say that that the winner of this upcoming encounter will have a good lead in the top-most tier as the second phase of the season begins.

The sixth-placed Chelsea and the eighth-placed Manchester City are taking on each other this game week and note that both teams have 26 points.

Since one of these two will be dropping points for sure, a win at the Old Trafford will be doubly beneficial for whoever wins between the Devils or the Lions.

Manchester United play host to Aston Villa on Friday night looking to extend their unbeaten record in the Premier League to 10 matches.

Despite crashing out of the Champions League group stages, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United ended 2020 on a high domestically after Liverpool’s draw at Newcastle.

The Red Devils sit three points behind Jurgen Klopp’s League leaders with a game in hand and look capable of mounting a potential title challenge if results continue to go their way.

Manchester United vs Aston Villa: Head-to-head

Four of the previous seven games had goals from both teams and the latest two official clashes had three or more goals as well.
The latest match-up had ended in a 0-3 win for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men on the road.
The hosts had scored two or more goals in ten of the preceding twelve match-ups at this venue.
At this ground, the latest clash had ended in a 2-2 draw.

Villa travel to Old Trafford knowing that victory will move them to within one point of their second-placed opponents in the standings.

Man United have made a habit of prevailing in high-scoring matches this season, particularly away from home when they have often conceded an early goal.

Sitting four points adrift of second position with a game in hand, Smith deserves the widespread praise that he has received for transforming Villa from a relegation-threatened side into a club which now have genuine ambitions to finish in the top four.

Solskjaer’s men were held to a 2-2 draw the last game week on the road, by Leicester. In the meantime, Dean Smith’s men recorded a 1-1 draw on the road against Chelsea.

The Devils are on an unbeaten run in the league for the past two months, and have scored a total of 13 goals from the preceding four games alone. And at home, they had scored a total of six goals in their latest appearance.

Their counterparts are on a five-fixture unbeaten run and had scored three or more goals in two of the former three match-ups. They had also won seven of their last nine road trips and had scored three or more goals in five of their past nine such fixtures.

Our Prediction: Man United to win @ 1.76