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| Reds Needed A Late Equalizer At Villa Park |
In last five days, the Reds have staged two second half comebacks against Blackpool in the Premier League, and then against Southampton in the FA Cup, but Sir Alex Ferguson will do his best to make sure that United avoids what happened at Villa Park as well.
The last time that these two teams met, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that United could have given up at least six goals, but, thankfully, the Reds only conceded two.
Previously
Even though the Villains stormed out to a commanding lead, but United, like they did in their last two matches, executed a brilliant turnaround to steal a point.
In the space of four minutes, goals from Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton saw Villa take complete control of the match, but that control only lasted five minutes because Federico Macheda, who is currently on loan with Sampdoria, and Nemanja Vidic gave United a share of the spoils.
About
Since that electrifying match in the middle of November, United has gone on to win eight of their last 10 matches to overtake the top spot in the Premier League table, but Villa, on the other hand, has dropped from ninth to 14th place.
In their 10 matches, United has not only increased their goal differential from +11 to +30, but the Reds have also taken a possible 26 out of 30 points.
Contrastingly, the Villains have given up 22 goals since in their 11 matches, which saw them briefly spell in the relegation zone.
Away from Villa Park, the Lions have been very poor by losing seven of their 12 matches, which has been down to being outscored by 16 goals, and their 27 goals against is the worst the Premier League, which could play right into United's hands.
However, two wins and a draw from their last three league games has seen Aston Villa make a slight charge up the table.
On top of that, Villa has also cruised into the Fifth Round of the FA Cup with a pair of 3-1 wins over Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers in the Third and Fourth Round, respectively.
Coincidentally, Villa's recent run of form began with a 1-0 loss to Sunderland, which is where their newest, very controversial signing spent the last season-and-a-half.
Who
Darren Bent, who was held in check during United's 2-0 win over Sunderland in December, moved to Villa Park in a 24million move, and he made an immediate impact in his first game.
The well-traveled center forward scored the winner in Villa's 1-0 victory over Manchester City, and that victory helped give the Reds some space between themselves and their inner city rival.
Stewart Downing is currently the club's leading goal scorer with five goals, and exactly why Gerard Houllier needed to spend on a proven goal scorer.
If Villa has any intentions of making anything of this season they will need to better their 27 goals scored - which is 24 off United's total of 51.
A player that United was very familiar with at the turn of the century with Arsenal has joined up with Villa since they played in November.
Robert Pires, who scored what was the eventual winner against Blackburn, was added by Houllier to add experience in the Villa midfield.
Right now, Villa has to have one of the best attacks in English football with Bent, Downing, Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and their captain, Stylian Petrov, pulling all the strings to start the attack.
News
Sir Alex said that he would have his first-choice back-five available after none of them featured in United's 2-1 win at St. Mary's Stadium.
Javier Hernandez's well-taken winner over the Saints will give the United manager a welcomed selection headache as to whether he should chose him or Wayne Rooney to partner Dimitar Berbatov, who played very poorly at Villa Park, in the attack.
Ferguson's problem in the last couple of games has been the consistent play - or lack there of - with his center midfielders, so it will be interesting who pairs together against Villa.
Aston Villa and Manchester United have played some very entertaining games over the past couple of seasons, but if the Reds get any result - a tie or a win - they will extend their unbeaten run to 29 games, which will equal their best ever unbeaten run in the English league.
Treatment
Out: A. Valencia (leg), O. Hargreaves (hamstring), Rafael (concussion); Questionable: M. Carrick (foot), R. Ferdinand (groin)
Projected
E. van der Sar; Rafael, R. Ferdinand, N. Vidic, P. Evra; Nani, D. Fletcher, M. Carrick, R. Giggs; W. Rooney, D. Berbatov
Prediction
Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 1
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