Aston Villa v Manchester United 21.12.25 - Pre Match Thread

[Somniloquism]

Although they also spent about £200mil on three attackers so if they were "as bad" as last season then we would be facing *insert new managers name* Man Utd instead.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

I think Dave has mentioned this, but I'll be pissed off if Casimero's suspension leads to Amorim actually playing Fernandes in a more advanced position, where he should be, also made more likely by Mbuemo going. If he has any sense he will play Mainoo and Ugarte together but I don't think he has. Saying that, they will be pretty rusty.

[Chip Butty 111]

Our problem against this lot, however bad or good they are, is that we never turn up...or at least haven't for about 30 years. Our record against them is one of the most bizarre statistics in football, almost unthinkable. Biased reffing hasn't helped 😑
I'd be over the moon with a win of any sort.

[paul_e]

I think Dave has mentioned this, but I'll be pissed off if Casimero's suspension leads to Amorim actually playing Fernandes in a more advanced position, where he should be, also made more likely by Mbuemo going. If he has any sense he will play Mainoo and Ugarte together but I don't think he has. Saying that, they will be pretty rusty.

If they do play them both then the important thing for us is to be patient. What we've shown recently is that our economy of effort means we can break teams down in the last 20minutes, we get a 2nd wind and dominate once teams start looking tired (only Young Boys and Brighton scoring late consolations has upset the pattern in the last couple of months). The most important thing is no silly mistakes and no gifts.

[Drummond]

We're at home. We'll do them. 3-1.

[Somniloquism]

Haven't we beaten them more times at their place then at ours in the last 30 years?

Even Unai has only done it once in three attempts.

[not3bad]

Last game before Christmas so it would be very typical for the Christmas Eve talk to be "What a first half of the season (with the obvious exception of the game with Man Utd)" or "What a run we had (which was ended by Man Utd)".

[Pat Mustard]

Our problem against this lot, however bad or good they are, is that we never turn up...or at least haven't for about 30 years. Our record against them is one of the most bizarre statistics in football, almost unthinkable. Biased reffing hasn't helped 😑
I'd be over the moon with a win of any sort.

This is where we have to stop thinking like this.  We have to accept that in the main over the last 30 years they have been ahead of us - yes we have had some pretty shit decisions go against us, and we have had a couple of collective mindfarts, but in general we have lost to them because they have been better than us.

This is no longer the case - if we play to our full capability and then even if they play to theirs, we still beat them because we are a much better team.  Given our respective runs of form, the players they will be missing and the motivation we should have to stay in touch with the leaders, on the last Sunday before Christmas in front of a packed and expectant Villa Park, we should not only win but we could absolutely batter them.  Time to stop thinking small and make a statement about exactly who we are now.

[LeeB]

They really aren't improving, and are going to be significantly weaker this weekend.  The reaction in the media to their game last night is astonishing - they scraped a 4-4 draw at home to a side who haven't won in nearly two months (and who we recently smashed 4-0 by the way) and the BBC are talking like it's Ferguson's side in their pomp.  They are only helped by the congestion in mid-table this year, but on their current form they will pretty soon revert to lower mid-table once they meet a few better sides.

I know it's in our nature to be pessimistic, but this is absolutely the time for us to start backing ourselves.  If both sides play to their full capacity we beat them 9 times out of 10 with current line-ups.  We have to go into this one expecting to absolutely funeral them, and I think we will.

I mean, they ARE improving, but only because they were so utterly terrible last year.  They finished 15th last season, and are currently sat 6th.  Any other team had that turnaround from one season to the next and we'd be saying "blimey, they're a VERY different proposition to last year".

That's NOT to say they're particularly good.  But they're where they are in the league for a reason.

We definitely owe them a good shoeing, and I hope to God it's this weekend, not least to keep the gap to 6th place nice and big, but also because the next two will be particularly difficult games and I'd prefer to go into them with our run intact.  If our run ends against Chelsea or Arsenal, there's no real shame in that, but losing it to these buggers would be galling in the extreme.

A host of favourable refereeing decisions?

[manic-road]

They are shocking at the back, after watching them last night with huge gaps in the midle of the team I think we will tear them apart, especially if he sticks to the same back three as well.