Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand admitted that he couldn’t believe the “audacity” and “rudeness” of Aston Villa fans to chant one message to him ahead of the showdown at Villa Park.
Manchester United will resume their Premier League campaign on Sunday when they face Aston Villa, with kick-off slated for 2pm UK time.
Erik ten Hag’s men are heading to Villa Park with serious pressure on them after a lacklustre start to the 2024-25 campaign.
The Red Devils have won only twice in their opening six league matches under United manager Erik ten Hag this season, with the club currently in 13th place.
United suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford in their last Premier League outing, with the 10-man Red Devils side outclassed by Spurs.
Ten Hag’s men salvaged a point from their Europa League clash against Porto on Thursday evening after blowing a 2-0 lead in the first half at the Estadio do Dragao.
United were reduced to 10 men after Bruno Fernandes was sent off and were trailing 3-2 before Harry Maguire found a crucial injury-time equaliser.
Ferdinand reveals Villa fans’ message
Aston Villa have had a strong start to the 2024-25 season under Unai Emery and the club have won four of their opening six Premier League matches.
Unai Emery’s men secured their place in the Champions League for the current campaign after finishing fourth in the Premier League in the 2023-24 campaign.
And Villa caused a massive upset in the midweek after Jhon Duran’s stunning second-half strike sealed an empathic 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.
Rio Ferdinand was at Villa Park for the Champions League match as part of TNT Sports’ coverage, with the Manchester United legend United legend talking up the atmosphere.
The former United defender revealed that after the match he had Villa fans shouting at him that the Red Devils were ‘coming to town’ and were going to be ‘smashed.’
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “[…] I fast-forward to this weekend, I was at Villa Park [for the Champions League match].
“Aston Villa beating a superpower in Bayern Munich at Villa Park. The atmosphere there at the moment is crazy.
“I’m getting shouts at the end of the game while I’m doing my punditry, ‘Ah, United are coming to town. We’re going to smash you.’
“When have Aston Villa fans ever, ever had the audacity, the rudeness to ever talk to me like that about Man United? I think I played there 18 times; I think I got beat once.
“Slapped up Aston Villa on a regular basis, used to go there and tear it down. Scholesy’s volley, remember that? We used to hurt them.”
Ferdinand’s reaction to Villa fans’ chant
Ferdinand admitted that he had no real response to Villa fans mocking him and the front three that Unai Emery has assembled for his team has him “scared.”
“They had no rizz, they had no chat, no time for chat, they knew what time it was when Man United was coming to town,” he continued.
“Now, they’re goading me, they’re talking the p**s. ‘Uh, Man United are coming to town and we’re going to destroy you at the weekend, Rio. How many goals are we going to score?’
“I got no chat to come back at the moment. I gotta be honest. Because their front three scare me. Right now, going into the Aston Villa game, I’m scared of their front three.”
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