Aston Villa look to secure a hat-trick of victories on their Australian tour as they take on their toughest test yet in the form of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United this Saturday. The two teams meet in Perth, concluding either side’s time down-under, as each look to continue their impressive pre-season form heading into the tie.
Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa have beaten both Leeds United and Brisbane Roar during their time in Australia, after beating Walsall before making the long trip down south. United, on the other hand, have beaten Melbourne Victory and Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace on their tour, after coming away as 4-0 winners against Liverpool in Bangkok.
This fixture is Villa’s penultimate game before their Premier League opener against Bournemouth next month. The claret and blue side head to the north of France to play Stade Rennais at the end of July; a game that will conclude their pre-season match preparation before what is set to be a big campaign for the West-Midlands club.
Manchester United however, still have Spanish sides Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano to play before their Premier League opening affair against Graham Potter’s Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
‘Aston Villa vs Manchester United’ as a fixture has brought around some incredible contests over the years, and the two league fixtures from last season were certainly ones to remember for the Villans. A first win at Old Trafford in 13 years thanks to a late Kortney Hause header, and a comeback 2-2 draw inspired by the debut performance of Philippe Coutinho, leaves Villa fans with happy memories and will have them excited for the upcoming tie.
Gerrard’s side are yet to concede in their three pre-season games, and have scored six goals along the way too. Ten Hag’s Red Devils have too dominated their trio of games, with an aggregate score of 11-2 across the three.
The new manager has inspired a resurgence in the form of both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial up top, and the Reds certainly look a different side to the ones from the last few years. Saturday’s game is therefore set-up to be a good test for Aston Villa, and Steven Gerrard will be keen to see how his side fairs up against one of the better sides in the division.
Let’s remind ourselves of how the two squads look heading into the fixture, starting with Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa:
- Goalkeepers: Filip Marshall, Oliwier Zych, Robin Olsen and Emiliano Martinez.
- Defenders: Matty Cash, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Frederic Guilbert, Calum Chambers, Josh Feeney, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos, Lucas Digne, Ben Chrisene, Ludwig Augustinsson and Ashley Young.
- Midfielders: Marvelous Nakamba, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Sanson, Tim Iroegbunam, Aaron Ramsey, Emiliano Buendia and Philippe Coutinho.
- Forwards: Ollie Watkins, Cameron Archer, Danny Ings, Leon Bailey, Keinan Davis, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Bertrand Traore.
And now for Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United:
- Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Tom Heaton, Nathan Bishop and Matej Kovar.
- Defenders: Eric Bailly, Ethan Laird, Axel Tuanzebe, Raphael Varane, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Alex Telles, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ethan Laird, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.
- Midfielders: Amad Diallo, Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay, Hannibal Mejbri, Facundo Pellistri, Charlie Savage, Bruno Fernandes, Fred, James Garner and Zidane Iqbal.
- Forwards: Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga, Alejandro Garnacho, Tahith Chong, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Once again, Villa managed to emerge from their recent triumph over Brisbane Roar unscathed, and so the team news as reported in the last match preview remains. Jaden Philogene-Bidace is still unavailable after missing the Roar game with a knock picked up in training, but after making his return from injury, Ezri Konsa is in contention for a start again this weekend.
News surrounding striker Keinan Davis has emerged this week, with boss Steven Gerrard reporting that the former Nottingham Forest loanee will miss the Man United tie through a lingering hamstring injury. The 24 year-old has been training alone and spending time with the club’s physios and medical team to rehabilitate the injury. Gerrard revealed that: “He should be in full training when we return [from Australia] so he’s had a really good rehab over here and has worked extremely hard”, meaning we could see the forward feature in the last pre-season contest against Stade Rennais next week.
As for Manchester United, they have left Cristiano Ronaldo, Shola Shoretire, Alvaro Fernandez, Phil Jones and Brandon Williams out of their trip to Australia due to ongoing transfer talk and also injury-related reasons too.
Latest signings Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen are set to meet up with their new teammates at the end of the month, when they travel to Oslo, Norway for their remaining pre-season fixtures. Defender Raphael Varane and midfielder James Garner have been pictured in recent training pictures after missing their latest victory over Crystal Palace, and so the pair appear in contention for Saturday’s game.
Elsewhere, Argentine forward Alejandro Garnacho has yet to feature for ten Hag’s side, despite appearing uninjured and fit for all pre-season games thus far. The youngster was tipped to get game time down-under but the new boss has yet to make use of the 18 year-old’s talents and so a loan move may be on the cards when the team travels out of Australia.
The upcoming game looks set to be an entertaining one, and you’d think both sides will go full strength given the Premier League opposition they face. From an Aston Villa perspective, it will be interesting to see who makes the line-up with fans themselves struggling to pick their best 11 ahead of the new season.
Can Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa achieve a clean sweep on their Australian ventures, or will Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils show them whose boss?
AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive liamayrtondavies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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