Its the sparring game ahead of the Carling Cup final to some people, but to many, it’s a crucial away fixture in the Premier League with a priceless 3 points up for grabs. Chelsea countered our win against Portsmouth last week, beating Arsenal the next day to return to the top of the pile, so keeping the pressure on the boys from the ‘bridge is vital. We’re in probably our best form of the season right now firing in goals and conceding few. Games at Villa Park are always entertaining and this time around shouldn’t be any different in that aspect.

Last Time Out

5 Star United crush Pompey was the headline on MUT after last weeks game, and 5 stars it was indeed. Despite being one of the more un-eventful games of the season with little to get you on the edge of your seat, the lads managed to dispatch a relegation headed Portsmouth with goals from Rooney and Berbatov along with incredibly…3 own goals! Carrick may well have deserved to have been credited with one but either way, it’s a goal for United and that’s all that matters. The win put us on to of the league for a few hours and also boosted our goal difference which had needed a push in the right direction. Another score line like that again against Martin O’Neill’s men and we’ll be laughing!

Our Line Up

Van Der Sar

Rafael Brown Evans Evra

Valencia Anderson Fletcher Nani

Rooney Berbatov

Van Der Sar will more then likely play in goal, although Kuszczak could well be the man in between the sticks when the sides meet at Wembley. The back four is solid, and with Rio and Nemanja absent, Brown and Evans have been super lately. The pace and trickery of Evra and Rafael will pose serious threats along the flanks causing the Villa wingers to think twice about bombing forward in attack.

Nani was off the boil against Portsmouth, but on the other hand, so were the rest of the team mainly, (Yet we still win 5-0). He can show us how good he is if he can put in a good performance come Wednesday evening building upon his super showings in recent games, and I believe he is capable of playing on the left wing if he puts in the effort we have seen lately. Valencia is a power horse on the right wing and is a constant outlet for United it seems with his pace and power. In the middle, I’m going to pair Anderson and Fletcher. Two good passers of the ball who can tackle and hold onto possession. Anderson needs more games I think.

Up top it’s a no brainer really. The in-form player in England, and arguably Europe, Wayne Rooney would love to continue his superb form and Beratov wouldn’t mind adding to his goal against Portsmouth.

Key Devil

Rooney maybe the obvious choice but it’s hard to ignore him. Fantastic player for us and he keeps the team ticking. A United team without Rooney lacks so much I can’t explain. Where would we be if the lad got injured? He’s bound to score on Wednesday…

The Opposition

Villa have been a strong team as usual this season and see themselves in 7th place in the League table currently. They’ve picked up some impressive points against the top sides, those being; A win at home to Chelsea and beating both Liverpool and ourselves away from Villa Park. Revenge is on the cards for us then. O’Neill’s men have won 50% of their home games this season and are on a un of 4 clean sheets. (2 home – 2 away). It’s clear to see then that its not going to be an easy fixture for us, and despite a good record at Villa Park, I predict a tight and cagey affair.

Keano’s History Lesson

35 times we have faced them in Premier League competition and we’ve only surrendered defeats to the men from Birmingham 3 times! There have been 24 wins for us out of the 35 and only 8 draws. You have to go all the way back to the 1995/1996 season for Villa’s last win over us at Villa Park in the League. Since then, we’ve been to their patch 13 times and left with at least 1 point. A very good record against a team who are pushing for a top 4 spot. Our latest meeting with them however ended badly with Agbonlahor grabbing a 1-0 win for the Villains as they stole three points from us at Old Trafford after a rather off colour display by us earlier in the season.

Keano’s Verdict

It’s a very hard game to predict. Our form is great and for that reason solely I’m going to go for a United victory, but only just.

Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United

Keano’s Betting Corner

Wayne Rooney 1st Goal scorer – 7/2
Manchester Utd to win with 2 or fewer goals scored in the match – 11/4
Aston Villa 0-1 Man United – 6/1
Draw/Man United – 7/2
Agbonlahor to score 1st & Villa to win 1-0 – 40/1

Last Weeks Winning Tips

Wayne Rooney 1st Goal scorer – 5/2