On Thursday night, at 20:15, Manchester United hopes to continue their good form and march to the UEFA Champions League, with a victory away from Birmingham, with Aston Villa. The hosts cannot count on Engels, Heaton, Targett, Wesley and Kalinic, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not have the injured Phil Jones, Rojo and Tuanzebe at his disposal.
Even so, United has a high quality team, and the attack composed of Rashford, Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood should make the difference on Villa Park. The “Devils” have played exceptionally since the resumption of the season in England and have four wins and a draw in the last five stages. Thus, United reached only two points from Chelsea, the team in 4th place.
Aston Villa is in a difficult situation in the bottom of the hierarchy, on the 18th place, relegated. With a goal difference of 36-62, Dean Smith’s team has not won a game since the restart of the season and needs every possible point at the end of the season. With a problematic defense, Villa scored only two points in the previous five stages of the Premier League. Last stage, Villa lost to Anfield, with Liverpool (0-2), after a difficult program, with matches against Chelsea, Wolverhampton and Newcastle. Instead, United have impressed in recent weeks.
With Pogba back in the starting line-up, the “Devils” qualified for the English Cup semi-finals (2-1 with Norwich, after extra time), and then had Brighton (3-0) and Bournemouth (5-2). Solskjaer’s offense is evolving very well and the team has started to become homogeneous, so goal betting has become a profitable selection in the white-and-reds’ games. We were betting on a game with a good rhythm, just like in the round, when Aston Villa got a draw on Old Trafford, score 2-2.
THE LIKE TEAM ASTON VILLA – MANCHESTER UNITED
Aston Villa: Reina; Thus, Hause, Mings, Taylor; Luiz, McGinn, Hourihane; El Ghazi, Grealish, Samatta.
Coach: Dean Smith
Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw; Matic, Pogba; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial.
Coach: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
-In the round, Villa led 1-0 and came back from 1-2 to save a point;
-No less than 18 corners were awarded in the round, 9 for each team;
-Manchester United have not lost 15 games to Aston Villa;
-In 7 of the last 10 direct duels, at least three goals have been scored;
-United have only 5 victories in 16 away matches this season;
-Aston Villa has only 5 victories in 16 matches played at home, in the current season;
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,70
