Erik ten Hag is facing a potentially critical match as Manchester United manager away to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday (October 6).
Harry Maguire rescued a draw in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday with an injury-time header as the Red Devils snatched a 3-3 draw at the Estadio do Dragao after Bruno Fernandes was sent off.
The fact they earned a point from a losing position while playing with 10 men might seem a commendable result, but United held a 2-0 lead after only 20 minutes and contrived to throw away that advantage as they conceded three goals in a game for the 24th time since Ten Hag took charge in 2022.
The chaotic nature of the performance further undermined the position of the manager, whose pleas for patience are beginning to ring hollow amid an awful start to the 2024/25 season off the back off their worst-ever Premier League campaign in 2023/24.
Given Villa celebrated a famous UEFA Champions League win over Bayern Munich this week, and have had an additional day to rest and recover, the situation looks worrying for Ten Hag. What sort of team will he put together to get the result he desperately needs?
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Aston Villa vs. Man United lineups, predicted starting 11, team newsVilla have a couple of key injury issues heading into this clash. Midfielders Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey were both forced off against Bayern and miss out once more, though Leon Bailey makes a surprise return to the starting lineup.
Ross Barkley starts in midfield alongside Youri Tielemans, with John McGinn sidelined due to a hamstring issue. Jhon Duran once again has to be content with a place on the bench following his latest super-sub heroics against Bayern.
Aston Villa (4-3-3, right to left): E. Martinez (GK) — Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne — Philogene, Barkley, Tielemans — Bailey, Watkins, Rogers
Injured: Onana, Ramsey, McGinn, Kamara, Mings
Suspended: None
MORE: All the latest Man Utd news | Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings
Ten Hag has made the startling call of dropping both Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt to start experienced duo Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire at centre-back.
Marcus Rashford was substituted at halftime of the Porto draw, which his manager described as being important for "rotation". He keeps his place and Alejandro Garnacho comes into the lineup.
Manuel Ugarte is on the bench as Kobbie Mainoo returns to partner Christian Eriksen in central midfield. Captain Bruno Fernandes is eligible to start after his red card against Tottenham was overturned.
Man United (4-2-3-1, right to left): Onana (GK) — Mazraoui, Maguire, Evans, Dalot — Eriksen, Mainoo — Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford — Hojlund
Injured: Malacia, Mount, Shaw, Yoro, Lindelof
Suspended: None
This Premier League match takes place at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom and kicks off on Sunday, October 6 at 2:00 p.m. local time.
Here's how that time translates across some of the major global territories:
DateKickoff timeUSASun, Oct. 69:00 a.m. ETCanadaSun, Oct. 69:00 a.m. ETAustraliaSun, Oct. 611:00 p.m. AESTUKSun, Oct. 62:00 p.m. BSTIndiaSun, Oct. 66:30 p.m. IST
