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Everything to Know about Aston Villa vs. Manchester United: Schedule, How to Watch
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag desperately needs a win against a surging Villa to quiet calls for his job.
For the once proud flagship team of the Premier League, it may be time to hit the panic button.
Manchester United were once again humiliated by a better club last Sunday in a 3-0 rout by Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils were not helped by a dubious red card against midfielder Bruno Fernandes that knocked the captain out of the match, only to be overturned two days later.
The loss, Man United’s third in the first six games of the Premier League season, dropped the club to 13th place in the table, closer to the relegation zone than to qualifying for European play. That’s unacceptable for a club that owns the all-time record with 20 league titles.
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Manager Erik ten Hag is on the hot seat, with his job security potentially depending on a much livelier showing Sunday at Villa Park against 5th-place Aston Villa.
Villa, meanwhile, face a different kind of pressure: Matching last season’s fourth-place finish, which secured its first trip to the Champions League tournament in 41 years. Since acclaimed manager Unai Emery arrived in 2022, the emphasis has been on joining the upper echelon of the league that includes Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool.
The club certainly has enough firepower with strikers Ollie Watkins, who at 28 is arguably the best goal scorer on the English national team, and 20-year-old Colombian prodigy Jhon Duran. Both have scored four goals for Aston Villa through the first six games this season.
The trick, though, is getting them each enough time on the pitch considering they play the same position.
Where and When to Watch Aston Villa vs. Manchester United
The match kicks off Sunday, October 6 at 9 a.m. ET at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, and will be broadcast on USA Network and Telemundo.
Aston Villa News: Jhon Duran Adds to Growing Legend with Champions League Goal
Duran continued to add to his growing legend this past Wednesday by scoring the deciding goal in a 1-0 win over German powerhouse Bayern Munich in a Champions League match for the ages. And he did it in front of a home crowd at Villa Park. Coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute, Duran hit the net with a blistering lob 10 minutes later.
What made the win even more special for fans of a certain age is that it was a rematch of the two teams in the 1981-82 European Cup Final, won by Aston Villa by the same 1-0 score, the last time the Villains were in the most prestigious club tournament in Europe. Among those in attendance Wednesday to see history repeating: Prince William, who told reporters he lost his voice cheering for his favorite club.
Manchester United News: Manager Erik ten Hag’s Job Security Shaky Amid Horrific Start
There has been far less to celebrate of late for Manchester United. All the headlines in the British tabloid sports pages this past week involved Ten Hag’s future, which has been in doubt for a while and has only grown moreso since rumblings over the summer that ownership had tried and failed to replace him after United limped to the finish line last season in 8th place, the worst finish in club history.
"As always when we are not winning, we are very disappointed and we are also mad," Ten Hag told reporters earlier this week.
"Mad with ourselves and especially when you lose a game like Sunday. From the madness, we have to get motivation and go onto the next game."
Who Are the Aston Villa and Manchester United Stars to Watch
Aston Villa: Midfielder Leon Bailey had a breakout season last year – scoring 10 goals and nine assists -- after mostly underachieving since his splashy acquisition in 2021. At his best he is the engine that drives the club’s offense. Off to a hot start, Watkins may eclipse his 19-goal season of 2022-23. One of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League if not on all of Earth, Argentinian Emiliano Martinez earned the Golden Glove honor as best keeper at 2022 World Cup. The man who once courted controversy for using a trophy in a rude gesture after winning that World Cup, also earned a two-game suspension last week from the Argentina national team for more “offensive” behavior after hitting a camera with his gloves.
Manchester United: None of the stars on United are performing up to expectations, but the Red Devils desperately need two-time 17-goal scorer and local product Marcus Rashford to remember how to hit the net. This season, he has just one goal in the first six games, which –in a symptom of the team-wide offensive struggles – ties him for the club lead. Goalkeeper Andre Onana has three clean sheets, tied for second place in the Premiere League, despite three ugly losses. English midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, just 19, flashed his vast potential by scoring in the club’s FA Cup win over archrival Manchester City last season. But he got banged up in the match against the Spurs and his availability on Sunday is questionable.
