Villa Park will be bouncing for Unai Emery's first game in charge and Manchester United have their work cut out if they are to extend their good run of form.
The Reds head into Sunday's clash unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions since their humiliation at the Etihad and although they missed out on securing top spot in their Europa League group, it required a very decent performance to win in Sociedad on Thursday.
United are 23/20 favourites with Betfred to make it four wins on the bounce and condemn the hosts to a third home defeat of the season while Villa are a shade over 2/1 to beat United at Villa Park for the first time since 1999. That's right, it is over 22 years since Villa last beat United at home.
United have only played two Premier League away games since that chastising day at their city rivals but Erik ten Hag's improving side were full value for their win at Everton and they were much the better side in the first half at Chelea, a game they went on to draw 1-1.
Villa just haven't got going this season and the 3-0 defeat at Fulham was the final straw for the board, who swiftly cut Steven Gerrard adrift as boss. A subsequent 4-0 thumping of Brentford suggested the shackles were well and truly off this expensively assembled Villa side but they were brought back down to earth with a bump at Newcastle last weekend.
So former Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Villarreal coach Unai Emery has been charged with overseeing Villa's revival and we can expect to see Villa's possession stats rise under the the new coach, who is a big fan of structured build-up from the back.
However, it takes time for a new manager to instill his ideas and methods in a new group of players so Villa will likely be a work in progress between now and the break, which means we can't shouldn't expect to see a finely tuned attacking unit just yet.
Aston Villa vs Manchester United prediction
United are still not firing on cylinders attacking wise, indeed their 17 goals is less than even Fulham and Brighton, who both sit below them in the table. They are, though, defending very well - as six clean sheets in their last seven games testifies. The only goal United have conceded in that period was a penalty at Stamford Bridge.
The Brentford game aside, Villa have been fairly goal-shy at home this season so the ingredients are very much there for a low scoring encounter on Sunday. With that in mind, Betfred's even money about under 2.5 goals makes a good bit of appeal.
Aston Villa vs Manchester United prediction: Under 2.5 Goals - Evens
Aston Villa vs Manchester United odds with Betfred
- Aston Villa - 23/10
- Draw - 12/5
- Manchester United - 21/20
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