Aston Villa host Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday on the back of their terrific 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.
It’s been a thrilling five days for Aston Villa, who went from drawing 2-2 against Ipswich Town to beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Unai Emery made history against Bayern after ending their 41-match unbeaten record thanks to Jhon Duran’s late winner but now attentions turn to the visit of Man United.
The Red Devils are currently in turmoil and manager Erik ten Hag is under increasing pressure after losing three of their first six Premier League games.
That will suit the hosts, as they can feed off the negative energy from the visitors, with Paul Merson predicting Aston Villa to beat Man United.
Ahead of the fixture, the match officials have been confirmed and Emery will recall one decision made by the referee that left him feeling angry last season.
Rob Jones confirmed as referee for Aston Villa vs Man United
The Premier League have now confirmed that Rob Jones will referee Aston Villa vs Man United, with John Brooks on VAR duty.
The Merseyside-born official has refereed more Villa games across his career than any other club and they’ve not had good results with him in charge.
Aston Villa have won just five of the 18 matches that Jones has officiated, including 10 defeats and 33 yellow cards across those fixtures.
It isn’t that particular record that has left fans angered, though, as Jones made a controversial decision in Villa’s clash against Brighton in May.
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Unai Emery was shown a yellow card in Brighton vs Aston Villa
Villa were in hot pursuit of the Champions League places last season and every point counted on their way to finishing in the top four.
Emery knew that their visit to Brighton was important but his players didn’t turn up on the day and they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the AMEX.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Emery and it was summed by one decision that went against his side when Leon Bailey didn’t get a free kick in the 21st minute after Simon Adingra blatantly pulled his hurt.
Covering the game for BBC Sport, former Villa defender Stephen Warnock was in disbelief at what he just saw and spotted the Aston Villa boss looking furious on the sidelines.
“The referee has just missed another one. I can’t believe what I’ve just watched,” Warnock said.
“Adingra has just pulled Bailey’s shirt and the referee has just said “play on”. Unai Emery is not happy with the referee.”
Emery’s frustration with his side and the referee came to the boil late on, as the Spaniard chastised the officials and was subsequently shown a yellow card.
Aston Villa will hope that similar controversy with Jones is avoided, as they aim to make it five wins from seven league games.
