HP Terbaru 2023 – In-form Aston Villa face Man United’s leaky defence

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By Filip Mishov

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Can Villa make it 10 wins in a row ahead of their back-to-back London trips?

The Villans are riding high on confidence, as Unai Emery‘s squad are on an incredible nine-match winning streak between the Europa League and the Premier League, making Aston Villa the most in-form club across Europe’s Top 5 leagues at the moment. With Emiliano Buendia and co. averaging 2.4 goals per match during the impressive run and boasting the joint-fourth-best defence (17 goals conceded) in England’s top tier after 16 matches played, it is not a surprise to see the Lions up to third place in the standings and just three points off the top (going in to the weekend).

Manchester United’s leaky defence continues to derail Ruben Amorim‘s plans and prevent his inconsistent squad from climbing further up the table. Subsequently, Bournemouth were the latest team to find the back of Senne Lammens‘ net and now, the worst defensive line (26 goals conceded) in the top half of the table has not kept a clean sheet in nine consecutive matches. However, the Red Devils are undefeated against the Villans over their past six meetings, both home and away across all competitions, and their last loss at Villa Park dates back to 2022, which offers some hope ahead of their trip to the West Midlands.

Key players

Morgan Rogers is spearheading Aston Villa’s offensive output this season, both in goals and assists, as the energetic English attacker is the squad’s top goalscorer (5) and joint-top assist maker (3) in the Premier League. Furthermore, the 23-year-old is a pressing machine and tireless off the ball, ranking third in the squad based on possession won (0.7) in the final third per 90, and one could argue that if Ruben Amorim could pick one player to swap Birmingham for Manchester, it would definitely be him.

With Bryan Mbeumo having departed for the Africa Cup of Nations, the pressure is on Matheus Cunha to deliver in the Cameroonian’s absence, as the Brazilian has been the less effective of the two since joining over the summer, and now is the perfect time for the 26-year-old to prove his worth. Even though the goals (2) and assists (1) have been hard to come by, the tricky forward is leading the ranks in successful dribbles (2) and shots per 90 (3.9), making him an instant danger when he receives the ball on the turn, in, and around the box.

Team news

Emiliano Martinez is training individually after missing the past couple of matches due to a back injury,  and Unai Emery hopes to have him available, but Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres and Ross Barkley remain out, while Jadon Sancho is ineligible to face his parent club.

Noussair Mazraoui, Amad and Bryan Mbeumo are at the AFCON, while Casemiro is serving a one-match suspension due to accumulating five yellow cards and Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are still injured.

Prediction

Undoubtedly, the in-form Villans are the favourites going into Sunday’s clash, and with the Red Devils missing a few key players, for reasons various, it is hard to see them stopping Aston Villa from extending their winning streak to double-digits.

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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