Aston Villa V Manchester United Betting: Wednesday, 10th February

Aston Villa V Manchester United

Wednesday, 10^th February – 19:45 GMT

Two teams, who can ill-afford to slip up and lose ground on their respective targets, go in search of a vital win that will keep them on course for their own individual mission. Villa are still harbouring hopes of finishing in the top four, the Champions League places, while Manchester United are hot on the heels of Chelsea as they chase down their fifth successive league title. There is so much at stake in this fixture, but for one side revenge is at the forefront of their minds after the reverse fixture at Old Trafford finished 1-0 to the visitors, with Gabriel Agbonlahor scoring Villa’s winner with a first-half header. Who will claim the spoils at the second time of asking and will Villa complete a rare and historic league double over the mighty Manchester United?

Aston Villa

League Position: 7th

Recent Form: LDDWD

Martin O’Neill and his youngish Villa side have come across a sticky patch of form which has seen Villa manage just one win in their last six league games. However, to says it’s been a tricky fixture list for Villa would be an understatement, with Villa playing the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool & Tottenham in a six match spell since Boxing day, with their latest being fellow top four hopefuls, Tottenham Hotspur. Villa were the away side in their clash with Spurs on Saturday, in a game that ended 0-0, much to the relief of the Villa manager and their fans as Villa were completely outplayed for large periods of that game.

O’Neill’s troops spent the best part of 90 minutes on the back foot against Spurs, repelling any Tottenham trespassers that dare enter their penalty area. Tottenham controlled the pace and tempo of the game and were allowed to assert themselves in the match very early on. The Villa goal really did lead a charmed life and the point was a fortunate one for Villa, although a deserved one in many respects as the Villa defence did have to work extremely hard. However, what was discouraging was how negative Villa played at White Hart Lane in that they seemed quite content to let Tottenham dictate play and appeared more than happy to defend. We know Tottenham are a big threat when going forward, especially when playing at home in front of their fans, but it was a game Villa were equipped to win. Not saying they would have won with a more adventurous attitude but it would have certainly led to a much more competitive affair than the one-sided contest we eventually got.

We don’t expect for one second that Martin O’Neill will opt for a similar style of play in this fixture as it’s a home outing for his Villa side this time around. However, the negativity of their play was astonishing and it could have a downward effect on their forward play if they don’t actually attempt to make forward runs in games. After watching them on Saturday, it didn’t surprise me to hear that Villa haven’t scored in five of their last six league encounters, with three actually being at Villa Park. Their strikers just aren’t getting a fluent run of play at the present time and it’s having a negative effect on their morale and form. 

The last time, and only time in six, Villa scored in a Premiership fixture was away at Fulham when they won 2-0. However, even those goals were due to defensive mistakes from Fulham, so some could say Villa are struggling for creativity at present, which is a strange comment to make considering the amount of creative players they have in their squad; Milner, Young, Downing and Petrov.. However, the facts remain that Villa are struggling in front of goal and could find themselves leaving Villa Park empty handed once again if they don’t buck up their ideas in front of goal.

They are without a win at Villa Park in their last three, with Villa failing to score in all three, and in the knowledge that Villa haven’t beaten United at Villa Park this side of the Millennium, surely the home side must be opposed in this clash?

Manchester United

League Position: 2nd

Recent Form: DWWWW

The Red Devils are back to their scintillating best and even an on-song Aston Villa would struggle to halt this United express on current form. They have all the momentum after yet another winning weekend, this time smashing five past a hapless Portsmouth, and now United take their winning run of four games, and unbeaten streak of seven, to Villa Park where they’ll be gunning for revenge after their home defeat to Villa earlier in the season.

Manchester United are in the perfect form to reverse the 1-0 defeat to Villa at Old Trafford after looking unstoppable of late, and backing this unstoppable comment up with a seven match unbeaten run. Their demolition of Portsmouth on Saturday was their fourth victory on the spin following their sublime win at The Emirates a week earlier, beating Arsenal 3-1 in an emphatic manner. Their win on Saturday was largely down to some good fortune, but you make your own fortune in this game and United might not need any lucky charms on Wednesday if they can somehow replicate their performance in their last away outing, at Arsenal, into this fixture at Villa Park, in that United were lethal on the attack and tidy at the back against The Gunners, which makes for a pleasant change.  

However, before we get too carried away, we must say that United have only won two of their last four away fixtures and have been found wanting on their travels on a few occasions this season. They are, though, undefeated on the road since their humbling at Craven Cottage by Fulham, back in December. They recovered well mind, winning two of their next three, but one was against a toothless Hull City, at the time, and they did almost come unstuck at Villa’s loca neighbours, Birmingham City, drawing 1-1 at S.t Andrews after coming back from 1-0 down. Still, unbeaten in three games away from home, scoring seven and conceding two, and United look the team to be on in this clash.

One thing we must point out, and advise caution on, is not to get too carried away with United’s recent scoring antics. Alex Ferguson’s side, spearheaded by the leagues top goalscorer in Wayne Rooney, have scored an outstanding fifteen goals in their last four league fixtures; an average of nearly 4 goals a game. However, with the exception of Arsenal, their goals have come against some of the leagues worst teams, with United scoring 3 against Burnley, putting 4 past Hull City & 5 past Portsmouth, all in the bottom half of the table, two of which were in the relegation one at the start of the weekend. The goals will, however, bring about a significant boost in confidence for the United forwards, mainly just Wayne Rooney, and their creative players, but we mustn’t forget that Villa have a strong defence, one of thee strongest in the league, and haven’t conceded a league goal in four games – So don’t be too hasty!

Match Verdict: Manchester United to WIN – 1.91 Bet365

Villa have lost a great deal of momentum with this baron looking run of one win in six, whereas United are flying at the moment and even a resilient Villa could struggle to stop the mighty reds on Wednesday evening. Villa’s attackers haven’t had much luck in recent fixtures, league wise, and we feel they could bottle in the crucial moments at Villa Park, while United have been scoring goals left, right and centre and appear far too strong for an always improving Aston Villa.

Match Odds:

Aston Villa – 4.30 VCbet

Draw – 3.60 Boylesports

Manchester United – 1.91 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Man Utd to WIN to NIL – 3.25 SkyBet

Villa haven’t had much luck in front of goal in their recent outings, while United have been winning whilst keeping clean sheets of late, albeit against far inferior opposition. Nevertheless, the confidence at the back for United is steadily growing and we feel a to NIL victory could be on the cards. Sir Alex hasn’t seen his United side keep an away clean sheet since early December when United ran riot at Upton Park, beating West Ham 4-0, but their defence is looking a lot tighter now, more organised, and should of ended their baron clean sheet run in their last away outing at The Emirates, with a deflected Thomas Vermaelen shot spoiling United’s early defensive celebrations.

Also, Wayne Rooney is on fire right now, and even X2 Jens Lehmann’s, X3 Heurelho Gomes’ and X7 David James’ in the goal would struggle to keep the United machine out on present form. Rooney bagged two when United won 4-1 at Villa Park in 2007, United’s last victory at Aston Villa after drawing 0-0 their last season, and we’ve taken to his odds of scoring more against Villa on Wednesday night.

Advisable Bets:

Wayne Rooney Anytime Scorer – 11/8 Boylesports

Wayne Rooney FGS – 9/2 totesport

Wayne Rooney to score a BRACE (2 or more) – 7/1 WilliamHill