With Arsenal having now sacked Unai Emery a few days ago, one has to wonder if the temperature on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s seat has now been raised significantly? The Gunners are already ahead of United in the Premier League table, and one could say that they are showing more ambition right now than Old Trafford.
Well, we’ll just have to see if OGS can get things going in the right direction, and it starts with a home clash against lowly Aston Villa. Let’s take a look at the team news for this clash, a match where United must take all three points.
Midfielders Scott McTominay (ankle) and Nemanja Matic (groin) are doubts for this one.
Paul Pogba remains out with an ankle injury, but is expected back for the Manchester derby next week. Defenders Eric Bailly, Timothy Fosu-Mensah (knee), Diogo Dalot (groin) and Marcos Rojo (muscular issue) are all unavailable for selection. In other words, Solskjaer will have some selection issues in the middle of the park and at the back.
Switching over to Aston Villa, the big news is that defender Bjorn Engels is back in contention after having missed most of the month due to a hip injury.
Striker Keinan Davis is on the mend, but this game comes way too soon for his return while goalkeeper Jed Steer (Achilles) is out until well into 2020. Midfielder Jota has returned to training after having overcome a hernia, but he’s still working on match fitness at this point.
Manchester United vs Aston Villa FYIs
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: 4:30 BST, Dec. 1, Old Trafford
Google Result Probability: Manchester United win 64%, Draw 22%, Sheffield United win 27%
Form Guide: Aston Villa- WLLLW Manchester United- DWLWD
Odds via Sky Bet: Manchester United win 1/2, Draw 7/2, Aston Villa 5/1
Prediction: Manchester United 2, Aston Villa 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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