Manchester United vs Aston Villa Competition – Barclays Premier League Stadium: Old Trafford Date: 26th December 2023 Kick-off time – 20:00 GMT
The Premier League returns on Tuesday with exciting Boxing Day fixtures bookended by a match between Manchester United and Aston Villa at Old Trafford. Historically, Boxing Days have produced some of the league’s biggest and most entertaining fixtures, and fans could be due another box office classic when Unai Emery’s entertainers visit Erik ten Hag’s strugglers. The Dutchman is coming under increasing pressure at Old Trafford after a poor first half of the season which has seen his side lose eight of their opening 18 league games this season (W9, D1). The most recent of those losses came in a 2-0 loss to West Ham last Saturday which means United have gone four successive matches without scoring for the first time since November 1992 (D1, L3). As such, the Red Devils will kick off on Boxing Day, eight points adrift of the Premier League top-four. Improvements are needed quickly, especially in attack, as only basement boys Sheffield United have scored fewer goals than United’s measly 18 in the PL thus far. Further toothlessness in front of goal would leave them vulnerable to a third consecutive home defeat for the first time this century. However, they can draw confidence from their pair of H2H victories over Aston Villa at Old Trafford last season. Meanwhile, Aston Villa will look to get back to winning ways when they visit the Theatre of Dreams. The visitors missed the chance to go top of the table on Christmas as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United last Friday. However, they remain inside the top three, just one point behind Arsenal. Unai Emery’s side are also unbeaten in ten matches in all competitions (W7, D3) and have scored exactly twice in each of their last three PL away matches (W2, D1). But despite the club’s respective standings this term, this fixture may still concern the Villa faithful as their side have won just two of the last 24 H2Hs in all competitions (D5, L17). In fact, no side in PL history has beaten Villa more than United (38), while Emery has lost six of his 12 managerial H2Hs against the Red Devils (W3, D3). One of those victories came in his first game as Villa boss – a 3-1 win at Villa Park last season, though. Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures: Premier League Table
May 2, 2024
Chelsea
19:30
Tottenham Hotspur
May 3, 2024
Luton Town
20:00
Everton
May 4, 2024
Arsenal
12:30
AFC Bournemouth
Brentford
15:00
Fulham
Burnley
15:00
Newcastle United
Sheffield United
15:00
Nottingham Forest
Manchester City
17:30
Wolverhampton Wanderers
May 5, 2024
Brighton & Hov…
14:00
Aston Villa
Chelsea
14:00
West Ham United
Liverpool
16:30
Tottenham Hotspur
May 6, 2024
Crystal Palace
20:00
Manchester United
May 11, 2024
Fulham
12:30
Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur
15:00
Burnley
West Ham United
15:00
Luton Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers
15:00
Crystal Palace
Newcastle United
15:00
Brighton & Hov…
AFC Bournemouth
15:00
Brentford
Everton
15:00
Sheffield United
Nottingham Forest
17:30
Chelsea
May 12, 2024
Manchester United
16:30
Arsenal
#
Team
MP
W
D
L
F
A
G
P
1
Arsenal
35
25
5
5
85
28
+57
80
2
Manchester City
34
24
7
3
82
32
+50
79
3
Liverpool
35
22
9
4
77
36
+41
75
4
Aston Villa
35
20
7
8
73
52
+21
67
5
Tottenham Hotspur
33
18
6
9
67
52
+15
60
6
Manchester United
34
16
6
12
52
51
+1
54
7
Newcastle United
34
16
5
13
74
55
+19
53
8
West Ham United
35
13
10
12
56
65
-9
49
9
Chelsea
33
13
9
11
63
59
+4
48
10
AFC Bournemouth
35
13
9
13
52
60
-8
48
11
Wolverhampton Wanderers
35
13
7
15
48
55
-7
46
12
Brighton & Hov…
34
11
11
12
52
57
-5
44
13
Fulham
35
12
7
16
51
55
-4
43
14
Crystal Palace
35
10
10
15
45
57
-12
40
15
Everton
35
12
8
15
37
48
-11
36
16
Brentford
35
9
8
18
52
60
-8
35
17
Nottingham Forest
35
7
9
19
42
62
-20
26
18
Luton Town
35
6
7
22
48
77
-29
25
19
Burnley
35
5
9
21
38
70
-32
24
20
Sheffield United
35
3
7
25
34
97
-63
16
Check Also
AS Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview
Xabi Alonso and his relentless Bayer Leverkusen side will look to continue their incredible unbeaten ...