Martin O'Neill's quest to make Aston Villa a top four sides continues on Saturday as they host champions Manchester United at Villa Park.
After their brilliant victory at the Emirates Stadium last weekend all eyes will be on Villa Park, a venue United hold an excellent record at.
Both sides had players involved in the mid-week internationals, but it's sure to make little difference to fatigue as these two sides like to put on a show with there unique brand of attacking football.
Villa rely on pace from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, while United use their creative edge as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo attempt to overhaul any oncoming defence.
Infact the United duo have an excellent goalscoring record over Villa, scoring seven out of the twelve goals when the two teams met last season in the league and cup.
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Stopping these two, as in any game, will be key if Villa are to collect all three points this afternoon, and knowing how they fared last season it doesn't bode well.
The obvious pace upfront will hurt United for sure, without Rio Ferdinand in the heart of the defence they are sure to struggle.
Jonny Evans is expected to come in for Ferdinand, and is sure to be targeted by O'Neill.
However he should be wary his fellow countryman is no mug in defence, and without John Carew up top, height shouldn't be an issue.
If Villa are to take all three points they will need to work to nullify United's attack before they concentrate on their own, twelve goals in three games last season shows that.
They clearly have the means to mount attacks and score goals, but Curtis Davis and Martin Laursen will have to play out of their skin if they are to deny United.
With Carlos Tevez expected to replace the injured Dimitar Berbatov, they will have plenty of pace and willpower to deal with but it's a task they are certainly up to.
If they are to be taken seriously as a top four club, they need to be competing in these sort of games, or they will just be another "potential top four" flash in the pan.
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about 1 month ago
On the evidence of their win last week, they should do it, but somehow I don't seem them being consistent enough.
about 1 month ago
good preview nick. i'd like to see villa win, but i can't see their dismal record over united improving any time soon.
about 1 month ago
United missed a great chance to close the gap today, again, we dominated possession and should have won with Rooney missing a glorious chance in the second half but we lacked a real cutting edge. I know we have an important European match in the week and I wondered if our minds were to focused on that fixture instead of securing three points today because we were much better than Villa, no disrespect, Villa are a good side but the class showed and I was disappointed with the result considering both Liverpool and Chelsea dropped points today.
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