Manchester United -v- Aston Villa
Carabao Cup
Old Trafford, Manchester
Thursday 10 November 2022, KO 20:00 GMT
Manchester United will face Aston Villa for the second time in a week, this time at Old Trafford in the third round of the Carabao Cup. On Sunday, in the Premier League, United suffered their sixth defeat of the season in all competitions, losing 3-1 to the Villans – a bad result but also something that United have been capable of doing this season.
Erik ten Hag’s side will be tasked to beat Villa at the Theatre of Dreams in the Carabao Cup, aiming to put them into the draw for the fourth round to the English League Cup. It is expected that there will be some rotation to the squad for this match with Fulham on the horizon in the Premier League on Sunday, the final match prior to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unai Emery will be confident of facing United for the second time in a week, especially after the way his team dispatched United from the very start of the match in the 3-1 victory at Villa Park. United will need to save face of even face the consequences of a two defeats in a row, which was how United started the season. Things need to chance and United need to adapt.
Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Aston Villa 3-1 L, Real Sociedad 1-0 W, West Ham United 1-0 W, Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 W, Chelsea 1-1 D, Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 W
Goals: 7 – Marcus Rashford, 3 – Antony, Anthony Martial, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, 2 – Bruno Fernandes, Own Goal, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Fred, Scott McTominay
Assists: 5 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho
Aston Villa – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Manchester United 3-1 W, Newcastle United 4-0 L, Brentford 4-0 W, Fulham 3-0 L, Chelsea 2-0 L, Nottingham Forest 1-1 D
Goals: 4 – Leon Bailey, Danny Ings, 2 – Lucas Digne, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins, 1 – Emiliano Buendía, Ashley Young
Assists: 3 – Ollie Watkins, 2 – Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey, 1 – Emiliano Buendía, Danny Ings, Douglas Luiz
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Villa have met seven times in the Carabao Cup/English Football League Cup. United have won two times, drawing once with Villa winning four times. United have scored seven goals and Villa have scored 12 goals. United last faced Villa in this competition back in 2010. It is the Birmingham club that have the better run in the League Cup head to head with United.
That said, United and Villa have met a total of 194 times in all competitions in the history of both clubs. United have won 102 times, drawn 41 times and lost 51 times. United will be seeking to make it into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup this season, exiting at this stage last season. The defeat on Sunday will be raw and United need to hit the Villans back.
Peter Schmeichel, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Mark Bosnich, Dwight Yorke, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley and Axel Tuanzebe have all played for United and Villa. Steve Bruce was a former manager for Villa and player for United and Roy Keane was a former assistant manager and player for United. I am sure there will be other players featuring for both clubs in the future.
Team News
Raphael Varane, Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams will all be ruled out of the clash with Villa at Old Trafford on Thursday evening. Bruno Fernandes is eligible once again after being suspended for the 3-1 defeat to Villa at Villa Park on Sunday. Diogo Dalot will be available for this match but is suspended for the clash with Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Antony has missed the last three matches due to injury and currently has a 50% chance of being involved on Thursday. It would be good to have him available with the number of problems in the attack this season. Jadon Sancho has been out of action due to illness, missing the last two matches. He has a 75% chance of being involved against Villa on Thursday.
Diego Carlos and Philippe Coutinho have both been ruled out due to injury ahead of the visit to the Theatre of Dreams on Thursday evening in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Unai Emery will likely have all of the players that beat United at Villa Park on Sunday. Jan Bednarek and Leander Denconcker are both cup-tied whilst Leon Bailey has a slight rib injury.
Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Dubravka;
Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw;
Casemiro, Fred;
Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Martial
Predicted Aston Villa Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Martinez;
Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne;
Kamara, Luiz;
Ramsey, Buendia, Bailey;
Watkins
Match Prediction
United will need to turn up in this match if they want to make it to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup this season, or do the same thing as last season and allow themselves to be out of the first trophy of the season. Granted, there are much better teams than United still in the competition with Manchester City likely to push to win it as they have for four in the last five seasons.
United last won the trophy back in 2017 when they beat Southampton 3-2 with Jose Mourinho then managing the club. The last trophy for United came later then season when they won the UEFA Europa League. For five years now, United have not been able to get their hands on a single trophy and a bright season in this competition could change that.
If Ten Hag and United want to beat Villa, they will have to do a lot better than they did on Sunday. United were terrible at Villa Park and had run up a nine-match unbeaten run ahead of that match. United will have to start finding some creativity amongst the attacking players, who have been poor this season. Ten Hag is building something but it will take time.
Manchester United 2-1 Aston Villa
Written by John Walker
