Aston Villa travel to Old Trafford looking for their first away win against Manchester United since 2021. The hosts look vulnerable, having won only one Premier League game this season, but are fresh from a comeback victory at home versus Roma in the Champions League.
It has not seemed to matter what kind of form Man United are in entering a clash with Villa, as they have invariably come out on top.
If Unai Emery is to change that and claim the first win at Old Trafford of his career in his ninth attempt, there are three key points he will need to be aware of as Villa prepare for their matchup with United.
Individual quality
Michael Carrick’s side are a bit of a mess right now, and there is plenty of speculation about his future, but they still have quality players who can change a game at a moment’s notice, and Villa will need to be sharp defensively throughout the match.
The biggest dangers in forward areas are Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes, with Matheus Cunha also a threat. United do not operate with a natural striker at the moment, with one of Mbeumo or Cunha filling the role instead while the other plays out wide.
Mbeumo has four goals and ranks 4th in the league for expected goals. He has pace to get behind the defence, posting the 6th highest speed of any Premier League player so far this season, and is a strong finisher both inside and from the edge of the box.
Fernandes makes United tick in the final third, playing the 3rd most passes there, and has the quality to open up a defence in an instant with a clever pass or finding the back of the net from range.
An underrated weapon for United is Kobbie Mainoo, who is 2nd among central midfielders in successful dribbles and 5th among all Premier League players in pass accuracy. Man United’s midfield has been a weakness in general, but Mainoo is important for starting or quickening attacks.
Fast breaks
Villa tend to play fairly deep defensively rather than press high, and they would be wise not to leave space behind their defence against United. They will also need to be careful not to give the ball away in precarious positions, due to their opponents’ ability to strike quickly.
Man United have executed more fast breaks than any other team in the Premier League this season (1.89 per match) and have scored two goals from them. When given space to operate, United are more than capable of cutting through an opposition defence with one or two passes.
Villa must be on high alert for runs being made behind them, while Boubacar Kamara and whoever partners him in midfield must protect the ball when under pressure and not give their opponents the chance to steal the ball and break quickly.
Defensive vulnerability
While they will certainly threaten Villa’s defence, Carrick’s team are very fragile defensively and Villa will have opportunities to hurt them.
They rank 14th in the league in goals conceded, xG conceded and are yet to keep a clean sheet. United are also allowing the highest xG per shot of any team and the 2nd most shots inside the box.
United have conceded all kinds of goals, whether it is getting caught out with quick counter attacks, losing the ball in build up or other individual concentration errors, they look disorganised and other teams have taken advantage.
If Emery is willing to pull out some of the big guns in this game like Ibrahim Mbaye, he could have plenty of joy against this defence alongside Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson, who is in red hot form.
Another weakness of Man United is set pieces, having let in four goals from set plays this season and ranking 18th in xG conceded at 3.7. Can Villa punish this frailty? They are dead last in xG created from set pieces with just 1.1, and have only scored one goal so far.
Set piece coach Pal Fjelde has not found the same success as his predecessor Austin MacPhee, although losing set piece takers like Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, as well as an aerial threat in Amadou Onana to injury, will not have helped.
Villa will always threaten to score goals under Emery, and the same should be true on Sunday. Whether they can put in a solid enough defensive performance and concentrate for the full 90 minutes to secure a win is the bigger question in this game.
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