vs
Man Utd v Aston
Villa
Ch 24 - 11:00 pm - (Live)
Manchester United trio Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic and Paul
Scholes are in line to return after sitting out the FA Cup win over
Villa.
Henrik Larsson is pushing to retain his place but Louis Saha
(groin) could also be in contention.
Aston Villa team news to follow later.
MANCHESTER UNITED
and Aston Villa meet for the second time in a week, and the third
time this season. Last Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the
bench and, in characteristic fashion, scored the crucial stoppage
time goal that propelled United into the fourth round of the FA
Cup, just as Aston Villa fans were pencilling a replay into their
diaries.
Now it's back to League business, with the Red Devils chasing an
18th Premiership victory of the season, to - at the least -
maintain their six point lead over Chelsea at the top of the table,
and possibly increase it to either seven or nine.
Cristiano RONALDO and Louis SAHA are United's joint top scorers
with 12 goals apiece.
All 12 of Ronaldo's goals were scored in the Premiership - making
him the club's leading marksman in the League. He trails Chelsea's
Didier Drogba by one in the race for the Barclays Golden
Boot.
ASTON VILLA
are next-to-bottom on the Premiership's form table, and are on the
longest current winless run in the highest League. They've not won
in 10, since the 0-1 win at Everton on 11 November.
Martin O'Neill's side have drawn half of their Premiership matches
(11 of 22), and have slipped from third to 13th in less than two
months. Another defeat here could see them four places outside the
relegation zone.
Villa have not beaten United in the Premiership since winning 3-1
at Villa Park on 19 August 1995. They've not taken maximum points
away from Old Trafford since a 1-2 victory on 5 November 1983 when
Peter Withe scored both their goals.
Gareth BARRY is Villa's leading scorer with nine goals - eight of
which are Premiership goals.
Man Utd : Van der
Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra,
Heinze, Ronaldo, Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, O'Shea,
Richardson, Saha, Giggs, Rooney, Solskjaer, Larsson.
Aston Villa
: Thomas Sorensen, Mellberg, Hughes, Cahill,
Ridgewell, Bouma, Agbonlahor, McCann, Davis, Osbourne, Barry,
Angel, Baros, Samuel, Hendrie, Berger, Stuart Taylor.
REFEREE
Howard Webb (Yorkshire)
LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa
20 August 2005 - Ref: Phil Dowd
Man United scorer: van Nistelrooy 66
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Aston Villa 0-3 Manchester United
23 December 2006 - Ref: Steve Bennett
Man United scorers: Ronaldo 58, Scholes 64, Ronaldo 85
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at Man United only
League: Man United 47 wins, Villa 10, Draws 16
Prem: Man United 10 wins, Villa 0, Draws 4
