Welcome to a lovely bit of midweek FA Cup action, with Man Utd vs Villa the last tie of the 3rd Round. In a weekend of upsets and that included a couple of giant killings, Steven Gerrard leads Villa to Old Trafford with reasonable optimism.
READ: Full Match Preview: Man Utd v Aston Villa
Whilst our last two outings haven’t gone to plan, with defeats against Chelsea and Brentford, United are struggling too. Indeed, though temporary manager Ralf Rangnick has only lost one game since his arrival, there’s talk of player unrest in our opponent’s ranks.
We are also boosted by the reminder that our pathway and ambitions are lofty, after our owners moved to secure Brazilian international Coutinho and with Lucas Digne strongly rumoured to be next through the door.
It would be foolish to suggest that this will be a walk in the part though, United have great individual talent, but their ongoing rounds of transition make them very unpredictable. The FA Cup is arguably their most realistic chance of silverware, a fact that shouldn’t go un-noticed.
For Gerrard, there’s a genuine opportunity to once again turn heads towards his progress at Villa Park. The club’s profile is gently recovering after a serious malaise in the earlier part of the campaign, and there’s the chance to make a statement by dumping Man Utd out of the competition live on national TV. UK viewers can stream the match for free online here.
With opportunity, comes great risk. It has been a long time since we won this elusive trophy, with 1957, ironically against United, the last time. A cup run would be great, it’s never a distraction in The Villa Underground’s view, but we daren’t dream of anything more at this stage.
The winners this evening will face Championship side Middlesbrough on home turf in early February. Therefore, there’s everything to play for.
VILLA TEAM NEWS
Embed from Getty ImagesHere’s the confirmed starting XI to face Manchester United this evening:
Martinez
Cash, Konsa, Mings (Captain), Targett
McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey, Buendia
Ings, Watkins
On the bench for Villa tonight:
Steer (GK), Sinisalo, Hause, Sanson, Iroegbunam, Chukwuemeka, Philogene-Bidace, El Ghazi, Archer.
READ: Full Match Preview: Man Utd v Aston Villa
Featured Image Credit