Aston Villa vs Manchester United Preview

After their exertions in Europe, Aston Villa and Manchester United will return to Premier League action this Sunday when they meet at Villa Park for Round 7 of the 2024/25 league season.

It was a glorious week for Aston Villa as they beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at home in the Champions League. That win made it two wins in two UCL games for Unai Emery’s side and Villa became the first side to beat the German giants in the group stage of the Champions League since 2017.

Described as a “statement” performance by goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, the result is made all the more impressive by the fact that Villa were only promoted to the top-flight five years ago and were in a relegation battle before Emery’s appointment in late 2022. That has all changed now and since the Spaniard’s first game in charge was a home victory over Manchester United, the home faithful will be confident of a repeat as they look to keep pace with the early leaders in the league table.

Indeed, only Arsenal have beaten Villa in the Premier League so far this term (W4, D1) making this their best start to a campaign after six matches since 2008/09.

Meanwhile, while there is partying at Villa Park, the same cannot be said at Old Trafford where there appears to be mourning. The Red Devils are in their third season with Erik ten Hag, yet there seems to be no marked improvement in the side.

Ten Hag’s men travel to Birmingham on the back of two demoralising games–a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham followed by a Europa League game where they squandered a 2-0 lead against Porto, eventually needing a stoppage-time equaliser to escape with a point. The Red Devils enter the round a lowly 13th in the Premier League standings (W2, D1, L3).

However, facing one of their favourite opponents historically could help lift the mood. Also, just one defeat from their last 25 Premier League visits to Villa Park may give beleaguered away fans a shred of belief (W16, D8), and United’s 40 head-to-head wins in this competition is just one shy of the all-time record for one side against another, a record they also hold against Everton.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

Premier League Table