Unai Emery could make some changes to his side as Aston Villa prepare to welcome Manchester United to Villa Park ahead of this afternoon’s highly anticipated Premier League clash.
Aston Villa will be hoping to get revenge on Manchester United this afternoon at Villa Park, as Unai Emery’s side in 5th prepare to go to battle with Erik ten Hag’s 6th placed XI in the Premier League.
The last time the two sides met in the competition was on Boxing Day, an occasion that started sweetly for the Villans, only to end as a disaster as the hosts secured three points in the dying embers, coming back from being 2-0 down.
As well as plotting revenge on the Red Devils, Emery will want to restore his side to winning ways after their midweek FA Cup exit at the hands of Chelsea, in a display that raised questions over future selection.
Aston Villa team news vs Manchester United
After returning to the squad as an unused substitute against the Blues, Pau Torres is expected to re-enter the fold to bolster the defence, with left-back Lucas Digne also reportedly close to returning.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the manager gave a positive update on the defensive duo, explaining that they are “recovering” from their injuries, with both stars back in training.
As expected, Villa will remain without Ezri Konsa, Jhon Duran, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, with the update from the injury front allowing for the boss to rotate following Wednesday night’s defeat.
Pau’s return should see him take the place of Diego Carlos at centre-back, who was criticised for his poor performance against Chelsea, although the Brazilian wasn’t the only dud from the FA Cup defeat that could suffer a demotion.
Why Moussa Diaby should start for Aston Villa against Manchester United
Having dropped to the bench for the previous two fixtures, Moussa Diaby could be in contention to take the place of Youri Tielemans, after the Belgian struggled to make an impact in midweek.
The 26-year-old has been impressing in the false nine role of late, seeing him snatch Diaby’s starting position, although his performance against Chelsea was forgettable at best.
Completing just 12 passes in 71 minutes, the former Leicester City man was anonymous, something that can’t be said of Diaby, who made an impact by scoring a consolation goal in the 3-1 defeat.
Due to a dip in form, it’s easy to forget just how powerful of a force the Frenchman can be for Villa, with him previously having his ability dubbed as “supernatural” by his former youth coach Morade Djeddi.
At the beginning of the season, the £51.9m acquisition made a stellar start to life in the Premier League, recording eight goal contributions in his first 10 games in the league.
Restoring Diaby to the XI against Manchester United could not only refuel the forward’s confidence but hand Villa a refreshed asset to threaten Erik ten Hag’s depleted back line.
Without the help of first-choice centre-back Lisandro Martinez, Diaby could use his strengths to terrorise the pairing of Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire, with his statistics from this season providing interesting reading.
As per FBref, the France international averages 1.93 key passes per 90 and 3.49 progressive carries per 90 in the Premier League, placing him in the top 6% and 8% of forwards in the league, respectively.
By rotating between Tielemans and Diaby based on their form, Emery could get the best out of the duo by encouraging healthy competition in his squad.
