Manchester United will be hosting Aston Villa to play the 3rd round in the FA Cup. The fixture will take place at 1:25 am IST on 11th January at Old Trafford. The winner of this fixture will move forward to the next round. Both teams will try their best to win this game as they want to get their hands on silverware this season.
Manchester United will play their first FA Cup fixture of the season. Moreover, they are already knocked out of the EFL Cup and can not afford to go out of the FA Cup too. However, they are struggling a bit with their performances lately. This might give Aston Villa a ray of hope to beat United and progress ahead.
Manchester United form in all competitions: D W D W L
Aston Villa will also play their first FA Cup game of the season. They have got some good results under Steven Gerrard and are capable of causing yet another upset for Manchester United. However, they have to be aware that United has some quality players and can cause problems for Villa.
Aston Villa form in all competitions: W L W L L
Team News
FA Cup Manchester United vs Aston Villa: The Red Devils team news
Paul Pogba remains out due to injury however, the club has stated that Harry Maguire is back in contention. Moreover, Dean Henderson is likely to start in cup competitions ahead of David De Gea. However, both Ronaldo and Cavani might be given rest as they have started a run of fixtures and played the whole game.
Eric Bailly and Hannibal Mejbri are away to play in the African Cup Of Nations. Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay will not be suspended for their yellow card here but will be suspended in the Premier League against Villa five days later. However, the good news is that Victor Lindelof is available for selection after suffering from chest pain but there are still doubts about Harry Maguire.
Manchester United possible starting lineup
Dean Henderson, Diogo Dalot, Phil Jones, Raphael Varane, Alex Telles, Donny van de Beek, Nemanja Matic, Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo
FA Cup Aston Villa vs Manchester United: The Lions team news
Tyrone Mings and Ollie Watkins will return to the squad having missed their previous game against Brentford. The major news is that Villa cannot play with their marquee loan signing Philippe Coutinho as he is still in Barcelona having tested positive for COVID.
However, ex-United winger Ashley Young can also feature having come back from an issue with his toe. Moreover, the long-term absentees of Leon Bailey and Marvelous Nakamba will also not be available.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup
Emi Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett; John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey; Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings, Emi Buendia.
Our Predictions
Manchester United 2-1 Aston Villa
Manchester United must be very motivated to get a comfortable victory here. However, their recent fixtures have shown otherwise and also give a very good chance to Villa to snatch a victory. Moreover, if Villa wins then it will only be the fourth time where United have lost to the same team twice at home. In addition, United does not want to lose to Villa especially because of Gerrard as their manager.
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