Manchester United Awaits Aston Villa

Manchester United look to bounce back from a defeat vs Wolves at Old Trafford as they host Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.

A third round fixture between two Premier League teams is a rarity, so Monday’s match should be an exciting one. The latest soccer odds list United as a -160 home favorite in the first of two meetings between these two sides in the span of a week.

Game: Manchester United F.C. vs Aston Villa F.C.

Location: Old Trafford, Manchester, England, U.K.

Date/Time: Monday, 2:55 p.m. ET

Manchester United vs Aston Villa Betting Preview

Head to Head

Aston Villa have already faced Manchester United at Old Trafford this season. Villa pulled off a shock 1-0 victory in September as defender Kourtney Hause scored the game’s only goal.

United has won seven of the last 10 meetings and Villa has only won at Old Trafford twice in the Premier League era.

Manchester United

In their last match, Manchester United lost to Wolverhampton at Old Trafford for the first time since 1980. United’s Bruno Fernandes hit the crossbar but it was Wolves’ Joao Moutinho who capitalized on a Phil Jones clearance to give them a signature win.

With center backs Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire out, Jones made his first Manchester United appearance for 708 days. His return is a welcome one as Maguire’s form has been all over the place this season.

Even so, Maguire is expected to return for the match vs Aston Villa and could get the nod. Meanwhile, Bailly is with Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

It looked like the Red Devils were turning the corner after a 3-1 win vs Burnley, but Wolves showed that United still has a lot of work still to do.

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has been tinkering with the lineup recently and he settled on a two-striker formation vs Wolves. Although it didn’t lead to a result, playing Edinson Cavani with Cristiano Ronaldo could be the boost that United needs to contend for the top four.

United has been all over the place when it comes to betting online and has scored one goal or fewer in five of its last six matches in all competitions.

Villa’s First Tough Stretch Under Gerrard

Aston Villa’s best signing of the season looks to be replacing former manager Dean Smith with Steven Gerrard. Villa was 3-6-1 in the Premier League prior to Gerrard’s hiring. Since he took over in November, they’re a respectable 4-4 and have been one of the better soccer pick ATS.

However, Villa has now lost two consecutive matches for the first time under Gerrard and has two consecutive matches vs Manchester United coming up. To complicate matters, striker Ollie Watkins was left out of the squad in the 2-1 loss at Brentford with a mixture of COVID-19 and injury problems. It remains to be seen whether Aston Villa’s top scorer will take part on Monday.

While reinforcements may be coming during the transfer window, both Watkins and midfielder Douglas Luiz have been linked with moves away from Villa Park. If either of them move, it doesn’t look like it’ll happen before Monday so they could very well both be in the squad.

Aston Villa has interestingly been linked to Barcelona midfielder Phillippe Coutinho but any loan move would probably be finalized next week. Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet are both away at the African Cup of Nations for the month but haven’t been very involved since Gerrard took over.

Prediction

A mantra that has worked well for online gambling this season is: “Don’t trust Manchester United.” They’ve been incredibly unpredictable and their chemistry appears to be off. Since Rangnick took over, they’ve only averaged 1.2 goals per game and haven’t been blowing teams away.

With that in mind, I’m inclined to pick Aston Villa to cover the one-goal spread here.

Pick: Aston Villa +1 (-145)