Aston Villa and Manchester United will both be looking to continue their 100% starts to the new Premier League season when they take to the field on Friday evening.
It will be the first Premier League match to take place on a Friday night – excluding festive fixtures – since April 2004, but fixtures spanning from Friday to Monday are expected to be the norm in seasons ahead.
Aston Villa
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It has certainly been a busy summer transfer window for Aston Villa, with head coach Tim Sherwood making the decision to overhaul his squad following their struggles in the league last term.
The likes of Christian Benteke, Fabian Delph and Andreas Weimann have all been sold, but the money has been reinvested, with as many as seven players arriving for a transfer fee. Jordan Ayew has been their most expensive acquisition of the summer at just shy of £8.5m, and the Ghana international is one of four players to have arrived from France's Ligue 1.
Former Blackburn Rovers forward Rudy Gestede has made the biggest impression thus far, however, with the Frenchman scoring the winner away to Bournemouth in their league opener last weekend. Under new captain Micah Richards, Villa got their campaign off to the perfect start and Sherwood will be looking for more of the same on Friday.
Villa's pre-season results would also have pleased the club's supporters, with just one defeat from six matches. That said, Villa have not beaten Manchester United at home in the Premier League since August 1995. What's more, they have won just one of their last 39 Premier League games against the Red Devils – losing an incredible 28 times in the process.
Villa's home form last season was also disappointing – winning just five of their 19 league games and scoring just 18 times in the process. They did hold Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park last term, however, with Benteke on the scoresheet for the hosts.
Many have tipped Sherwood's side to struggle this season, but if they can secure another positive result against Manchester United on Friday, they will look ahead at a good set of fixtures, with Sunderland, Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion to play in three of their next four.
Recent form (all competitions): WDDDW
Manchester United
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Louis van Gaal has once again been given significant funds to spend in this transfer window and the Dutchman, along with the club's supporters, will be expecting to finish a lot closer to the top of the table this time around. Last season brought fourth position, but they finished the campaign some 17 points behind the champions Chelsea.
Like Villa, Manchester United also made a winning start to the new Premier League season, with a Kyle Walker own goal enough to record a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. It was far from an impressive performance, but a win in their opening game is what the doctor ordered.
There were also debuts against Spurs for Sergio Romero, Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and the challenge for Van Gaal is to blend his team together over the next couple of months. More new signings are expected to arrive before the end of the month as Van Gaal makes full use of the funds that he has available.
Away form was a serious problem for Manchester United last season, however, with the Red Devils winning just six of their 18 away games in the league, which was four fewer than both Manchester City and Arsenal, and five fewer than Chelsea. They also managed just 21 goals on the road and as mentioned, were held to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park back in December.
If that goal tally is to improve then surely Wayne Rooney will have to have a strong season leading the line. The England captain has scored more Premier League goals against Villa (13) than any other team, while Manchester United have scored 21 times in their last seven Premier League games against Friday's opponents.
Looking forward, Manchester United will face Club Brugge in their Champions League playoff on August 18, before welcoming Newcastle United in the league on August 22. It might be early days, but each fixture is already so important.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLW
Team News
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Villa boss Sherwood has no fresh injury concerns from the win at Bournemouth last weekend, but he has a decision to make in the final third.
Gestede had hardly trained when he came on to score the winner against the newly-promoted outfit, but the striker will have completed a full week by the time this game rolls around.
Carlos Sanchez is also pushing for a return and could take the place of Ashley Westwood, but the back four is expected to remain unchanged.
As for Manchester United, Van Gaal could opt for an unchanged team.
Marouane Fellaini is still suspended, while Schweinsteiger is reportedly still unfit to start despite making his debut off the bench against Spurs.
Darmian is once again expected to keep out Antonio Valencia at right-back, while Phil Jones's absence will see Daley Blind continue in central defence alongside Chris Smalling.
The goalkeeping decision is Van Gaal's biggest call, but Romero is expected to keep out David de Gea following an impressive debut last time out.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Bacuna, Richards, Clark, Amavi; Sanchez, Gueye, Veretout; Agbonlahor, Gestede, Ayew
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw; Schneiderlin, Carrick; Mata, Depay, Young; Rooney
Head To Head
In total, these two teams have met 159 times in all competitions. Manchester United have won 83 of those matches, with Villa winning 38 and the further 38 fixtures finishing level.
More recently, it has also been a fixture dominated by Manchester United, who have won nine of the last 13 matches and remained unbeaten in the process.
Villa Park has also been a kind ground for the Red Devils, who have not been beaten at the home of Aston Villa since the 1995-96 season, when they went down 3-1.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United
Aston Villa will be keen to put on a positive show in front of their own supporters, but they will have to be wary of the counter-attacking threat of their opponents.
It might be a tight fixture for long spells, but Manchester United should have just about enough to make it two wins from two games this season.
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