Aston Villa vs Man Utd pre-match thread

[PaulWinch again]

Well it would be for him because we normally gift them 3 points!

[Nev]

Trains cancelled all over the shop today. Fucking shite system.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Past results against this lot mean nothing now.
If Man U play at their very best level, which they do occasionally, then we need to play to our usually good levels to win.
If we play to anywhere near our best, it's a demolition job they can't live with whatever they do.

[AV84]

Thought I'd have a look if there's any pieces today with the game coming up, nothing about the Champions League pace setting him team but plenty to go through on both the beeb and the Guardian if you happen to support the mid-table, also-ran visitors.

Noticed that as well, Lee. Was looking forward to a few in-depth analysis or feel-good player articles, but zip. Plenty about Yanited (and fair enough, with a sacking looming), but thought we’d be decent box office this weekend.

Wonder if that has something to do with Unai’s generally media shy approach though, as much as the media being disinterested?

I feel like there was an awful lot of coverage of us post Wednesday night, so it's possible they've just ran out of things to say about us. TenHag being on the brink of being sacked is the angle they're all running with this weekend. If we win or lose the story will still be about him/them. It's just how the media works. For every Man U fan who will click on a story about them, there's 20 fans of every other team who'll click on it to laugh at them.

[KevinGage]

I'd worry more about the mental recovery than the physical. Doubt there'll be many changes to the lineup, other than injury enforced ones, and even then the replacements played on Wednesday too. We could carry the momentum and smash them, or we could be mentally drained and have a nightmare. 

I see Maguire calling for the players to take responsibility and start delivering consistently and to basically save ETHs job. Hopefully they don't actually want to save his job. (Maguire does mention VP being a great place to go to play a game though, so he gets points for that)

It's great for them because they usually win.

Personally, I'd prefer it if Slabhead, Gary Neville and the rest hated VP because it was such a tough place to get a result.

[tomd2103]

McGinn missing and doubts over Onana, Bailey and JJ on top of the more longstanding injuries.

We usually play these spawny fuckers at the worst time and this seems no different.

I'd take the draw and hope it gives Ten Haag more time to oversee his master plan...though if a defeat for the Red Mancs sees Gareth Southgate parachuted in we should go flat out.

We're a top team, they're midtable. Why should any fan be happy to take the draw?

We need to think like a top team because we are a top team. The days of shit Villa are long gone. Any other top 6 team would not be happy with a draw against these at home, and neither should we be.

Anything other than a win is two points dropped, even with our injuries.

I think the draw at Ipswich means a win today would be good, just to keep us in the pack in the top four going into the international break. 

[Goldenballs]

Despite how shit they are with their manager on the verge of the sack, if they win they're only 3 points behind us, and we've played 5 of the bottom 9. I guess you could argue those teams are in the bottom 9 because we've beaten them and it's early in the season.

They seem to pull out a result when they need it which just keeps them ticking along. Maybe good for us in the long run this season because I can't see Ten Hag finishing above Emery.

I hate this game though.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Villa 2  (Tony Scott, Lew Chatterley)  Man U 1 (Herd)

[Risso]

McGinn missing and doubts over Onana, Bailey and JJ on top of the more longstanding injuries.

We usually play these spawny fuckers at the worst time and this seems no different.

I'd take the draw and hope it gives Ten Haag more time to oversee his master plan...though if a defeat for the Red Mancs sees Gareth Southgate parachuted in we should go flat out.

We're a top team, they're midtable. Why should any fan be happy to take the draw?

We need to think like a top team because we are a top team. The days of shit Villa are long gone. Any other top 6 team would not be happy with a draw against these at home, and neither should we be.

Anything other than a win is two points dropped, even with our injuries.

I think the draw at Ipswich means a win today would be good, just to keep us in the pack in the top four going into the international break. 

Surely a win today would be good, regardless of what the resut at Ipswich was? I can't really think of a reason why anything other than a win would be good.

[Demitri_C]

As long as Van Nistelrooy can’t come off the bench we should just be treating this as any other fixture. They’re a mid table team at present, like a Fulham. We shouldn’t be making them to be anything beyond that.

Wouldn't be suprised if hw was named as one and came on scored. That horseface fuck use to always screw us

[tomd2103]

McGinn missing and doubts over Onana, Bailey and JJ on top of the more longstanding injuries.

We usually play these spawny fuckers at the worst time and this seems no different.

I'd take the draw and hope it gives Ten Haag more time to oversee his master plan...though if a defeat for the Red Mancs sees Gareth Southgate parachuted in we should go flat out.

We're a top team, they're midtable. Why should any fan be happy to take the draw?

We need to think like a top team because we are a top team. The days of shit Villa are long gone. Any other top 6 team would not be happy with a draw against these at home, and neither should we be.

Anything other than a win is two points dropped, even with our injuries.

I think the draw at Ipswich means a win today would be good, just to keep us in the pack in the top four going into the international break. 

Surely a win today would be good, regardless of what the resut at Ipswich was? I can't really think of a reason why anything other than a win would be good.

Of course, but if we have genuine designs of finishing in the top four again this season, then results like the one at Ipswich are a bit of a set back and therefore makes winning the next game a bit more important. 

[Demitri_C]

No onana ffs

[Chip Butty 111]

Wasn't expecting to see Onana after the way he was carrying himself on Wednesday, didn't look great