Manchester United’s starting line-up to face Aston Villa has been confirmed.
Following the rollercoaster 4-4 draw at Old Trafford against Bournemouth, Manchester United return to action on Sunday afternoon, facing Aston Villa away from home.
United are without the three AFCON participating players, while Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are injured, and Casemiro is suspended.
As a result, the squad has a handful of academy players on the bench including Bendito Mantato for the very first time.
Kobbie Mainoo is out of the game through injury as well which means Manuel Ugarte starts.
Manchester United’s starting XI vs Aston Villa is confirmed! What do you think?
Who are you most excited to see included today?
Manchester United can make it three away wins on the bounce
While Old Trafford hasn’t been a happy hunting ground of late, without a victory in four games, away from home has been much better for the Red Devils.
United have back-to-back wins away from home, with a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace being followed up by a 4-1 win at Wolves.
Remember Rasmus Hojlund’s Boxing Day winner vs Aston Villa?
Can we make it 5 wins out of the last 6 vs Villa this weekend?
United also boasts a pretty great recent record against Villa, which should make Villa Park a welcome venue.
However, this current version of Unai Emery’s Villa is the best yet, with nine wins in a row across all competitions, since Liverpool beat them 2-0 at the start of November.
Without Bryan Mbeumo or Amad, United’s attack will be a lot weaker on paper, but the quality is there to win this game and move up to fifth in the table.
Considering away games used to be Amorim’s kryptonite, to secure a third straight win away would be a big statement, and hopefully build some form with two home games coming up after this.
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