Match Prediction: Manchester United at Villa Park
Wednesday, 19 November 08, 05:38 AM · Comments (49)
Last Saturday was a fantastic result. We outplayed Arsenal and beat them playing football - there was no luck about it. In fact, if anyone was lucky, Arsenal were, that we didn't score more.
But, that was last weekend. This weekend we have the champions coming to play and it will be different. Different because they're going to come wanting the three points and may very well get it.
However, we may very well get the three points too. Arsenal actually showed us the week before how to beat Manchester United by playing five in midfield and guess what, we did it to them, so if anything and working on 'playground rules', we should win because they beat them and we beat them. That doesn't make perfect sense, but you know what I mean.
Now, to some facts. Since Martin O'Neill took over we've played Manchester United six times and the aggregate score is 18-3. We've not won or even got a draw out of those six games. The thing with runs, as Liverpool showed Chelsea, is they always come to an end.
We've actually got to go back to October 2002 to find the last time we picked up anything against United and that was only a point at Old Trafford. The last time we beat them was on October 13th 1999 and that was in the League Cup, when United usually put out their kids.
The last time we picked up three points was on August 19th 1995, when we beat them 3-1. It's a long time ago and while I'm not going to just say 'we're going to win' this weekend, it's a great opportunity.
It's a great opportunity because it looks like Martin O'Neill has finally found his best team and I hope he sticks with it. Gabby and Ashley Young were inspirational last weekend and while I'm going to blow my own trumpet for a moment, I even said that they had to, if we were to beat Arsenal. I even suggested we we had to play five in midfield to do it also.
The player I feel sorry for is John Carew because despite his presence and ability, he simply can not play on Saturday if Gabby is fit and able to play. He can't play because the team that was put out against Arsenal is the best team we have at the moment and as I wrote above, I think Martin O'Neill has finally found his preferred eleven.
Another player likely to find himself on the bench on Saturday, if Sidwell, Barry and Petrov are all fit, is Nigel Reo-Coker and he won't like it. He won't like it because he's the type of player that wants to play every game and he's not the type of player, I think, that likes to be part of a squad and at the same time, a squad player that isn't considered a starter if everyone is fit.
Now, I think maybe he should be, but Martin O'Neill has given him enough chances and while we've seen a few glimpses of why Martin O'Neill paid so much money, we haven't seen it on a regular basis. The thing is, the same could be said for Petrov and look how he is now playing and because of that I think Reo-Coker should be given time and one day me might see why.
While I'm in a generous mood, I'm going to mention James Milner. He has a role to play on Saturday also and if you've read my views on Milner before you'll know I was a little baffled as to why we paid so much for him but again, he has to be given time and it's matches like this one on Saturday where he has to make his mark.
That will happen, or should happen if we continue to play Carlos at right back as he likes to get forward and should get Milner further forward and if that happens we'll start to see more crosses from him. Eventually the crosses will come good on a regular basis and eventually, I hope, he'll become a dangerous player for us, again hopefully.
Anyway, I've waffled again and I should start to limit these posts, but to my prediction. I think we'll get a point on Saturday but I'm going to say the same as I said last weekend. We need to fight for every ball, we need to look at breaking quickly and playing the ball to Gabby, who is becoming very good at holding the ball up and we need to support him at every opportunity.
If we do that and luck is on our side, we can win on Saturday and if we do, even I will believe that maybe things are really starting to change, but only if we win. A hard fought draw will mean we've moved on but are not kicking on, but it will still be a very good result.
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49 Comments · Add yours
How much did we pay for Milner?
without checking ... £12mn.
WE never beat united, we allways bottle it.We'll give em a game for 45 mins then let 2 in in the space of 10 .
It's Man U though, isn't it?
Although I'm normally optimistic, I predict a shoeing.
Then again I thought we'd lose about 3-0 on saturday, so what do I know?
I reckon it all depends which Villa turn up. If it's the poor mifield performance we've seen over the last few weeks, we'll get caned. But if it's the same sort of performance as on saturday and we take it to them, it could be very interesting.
It always sticks in my craw when we get beat by Man U, which is probably unfair really, as they're such a good side. But I'd love it if we were to beat them
Barry looked like he was playing better just for having Sidwell next to him in midfield on Saturday as opposed to Nigel.
I'd mostly agree Damian. Certainly about the 4-5-1 (or 4-3-3) as we're more flexible with the ball and more compact without it. Not sure about the personnel though. I'd like to see more going forward from the full backs if we're going to play that way. That's not going to happen with L.Young (good defender he though is) at left back and Carlos (good defender though he is too)at right back.We could also do with a extra bit of creativity in the middle. You know I'm talking about the mighty Salifou - it's a shame we cant find a slot for him. Like it's a shame NRC is good enough.That's life.
this is the acid test. last saturday wil count for nothing if we lose. im jus gonna pray for a villa victory. injuries willing, mon must play the same 11 from the arse game.
lets hope and pray, and most of all, lets take it to united. we are at villa park. we are the home team. lets make it count.
This saturday is definatley the biggest test of all! The Famous Man Utd, this is where we find out how far we've come, this is where we have to show we can cut it with the big 'uns.
Obvously i'm staying optimistic, but i'll keep the prediction close to my chest!
I can only see us getting beaten to be honest. As good as the performance was on Saterday we are set up well to play Arsenal away as can be seen by them getting 2 late goals the last 2 years to save a point. When it comes to Utd its a different story. They won't slowly pass the ball across our midfield like Arsenal do. They have a real cutting edge in the middle and up front and i really fear for us with Cullaer and Young playing out of position againest the likes of Ronaldo, Berbatov and Rooney. Ive got my hopes up the last few years that we were going to beat them only to get destroyed. And the worst part of it is the bookies always give great odds for Utd to win at VP for some reason and i never back them. They are 4/5 to beat us and im going to get on it as firstly if we do lose then at least i get some money and secondly im a jinx and hopefully me backing Utd will bring us our first win in 13 years.
Whatever happens on Saturday, the Arsenal result will not count for nothing. They're our main competition if we have any chance of sneaking 4th, and beating them is a big deal still think 4th is a bit beyond us though).
I can't be confident against Man U and I think the full back situation could be our weakness: Milner and Ashley may end up spending most of the game in their own half. Saying that we have as good a chance as we have had in recent years so I'm looking forward to it. Won't be the end of the world though if we don't get a result - it's what we do week in and week out against the rest that will determine how good a season this is.
Fingers crossed for an injury free match tonight.
I did that at the Emirates on Saturday, AK_27... I bet 2-0 to the Arse to try and cheer myself up a little if we lost. That worked wonders so on Saturday I'm betting 5-0 to Manure. If it goes either way I'll be very happy!
4-1 to manure....see if my kiss of death will work again and we actually wein...stranger things have happened.
anyway, who cares, because we kinda always resign ourselves that we will get 1 point at most from manure. anything better will be the cherry on the cake
UTV
Good stategy ak_27
I may get in on that as well as I'm sure the only time we'll ever beat em is if I have money on it going the other way.
I wouldn't count on it it... The last time i backed Man utd against the mighty Villa we ended up with 9 men on the pitch... Needless to say, money staying in pocket!
I think we will get beaten... 0 v 2 Ronaldo & Berbatov.
I also feel Sidwell will see red!!
I have to admit that a draw would be a good day's work for us.
I hope the team are more optimistic than we are. Come on. This is a bad inferiority complex going on. We just beat Arsenal away - quite badly. Besides, Manu have a habit of dropping points away recently - Everton 1-1, Celtic 1-1, Arse 1-2. I reckon they'll be a bit anxious.
Would every settle for 8 points from the so called top 4? We have four point already after playing 3 of them so a loss for me is not the end of the world at the half way stage. However, saying that i fully expect a point following our last game and with 4 lads returning from England duty it can only build confidence further. On a seperate note i was happy to see an old Villa Vs Arsenal game on AVTV the other night. I think it was 1998 where we went down 2 0 but eventually won 3-2. The most obvious thing for me though was the team. Not 1 foriegn player!! In fact i'm confident the majority were midland based lads - Taylor, Hendry, Collymore, Vassel(sub), Dublin and was little Joachim also from Leicester? remaining team - Oakes, little alan wright, Ugo, Southgate Barry and Thompson. Even the manager Gregory were all English . Kids would'nt believe it today
anything will be a result. The thing I will stress is villa have to take their chances. NOT miss penalties, one on ones etc. If we are clinical we have a chance. wasteful and ....... well even the barcodes can beat us when we are wasteful.
Ash has missed or hit the post about 6 efforst in the last few games not to mention other misses mr barry!so someone is in for a hiding when our luck changes. wouldn't it be nice if we give um a spanking. ha ha
we're not going to beat Man Utd, look at our record against them,playing at Villa Park is like a home game for them...
Reply to vogra:
I think its because Villa Park is a large pitch with a good surface which really suits Utd's quick attacking play. Im hopeful that Ronaldo and Nani will be tired after their trip to Brazil but that will be countered by the fact we will have 4 players maybe playing for England tonight. Also Rooney will be back and he just loves scoring againest us.
Heading to the game on Saturday with two other Irish Villians, can't wait! About time we gave them a beating. Let's be positive; it's 1-0 to the Villa. Where do you go for a pre-match pint? Anyone?
ive been pissing my pants in anticipation of this one.
come on villa, lets finaly do 'em
My feeling is the Scum will live up to their reputation and bust a few bubbles on Saturday. Vidic will not be pushed around like Gallas was and we may be relying on set-pieces for scoring chances - so this likely means Carew will be back in. Its live on Satanic Sports and the miserable hootsman will be in the crowd
This time last year I said something like; 'we've got to beat them some time, and now could be it'. Well, I still feel that way, though every time I watch ManU I have to count their players because it seems they have one or two more than their opponents. That's only because they run to create or get into space, they chase players and balls for the whole game. Just like we did last weekend at the Emirates. So my feeling is that we could get summat, we will score two goals at least, I just hope we don't concede.
The negativity coming out of some of these posts is dreadful. If that is the attitude, there is no point in the team, nor the fans,turning up at all.
Mental strength and self belief are paramount - and the team showed that in spades at the Emirates, as did the travelling support.
Supporters are there to support. In the most difficult times we get behind the team and lift them. That's our purpose. We have every reason to be confident - we have the best manager in the Premiership and an excellent team, where confidence must be sky high.
We don't need to fear Man U. But given their situation as favourites and desperate to avoid dropping more points, they have every reason to fear us. I'm looking forward to Saturday, when we will celebrate a second tremendous win in succession.
UTV!
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Damian, dont you think the 12million we payed for milner was or will be beter value than the 8.5million we payed for NRC, I realy could'nt get my head round that price tag? we payed just over half of that for sidwell and i think he's twice the player NRC is. With a bit of luck the three in middfield will keep there possition [ Petrov Barry Sidwell ] add to though's three A young on the left and aggy on the right,with carew the single striker and i think we mite just get something from the game, good luck boy's and come on England
just to get somthing from the game other than a bloody nose would be nice
Ok, fair enough we have a s**t record against united. But like Damian said, every record can be stopped as Chelsea saw Liverpool beat them at the Bridge. Im very optimitic about this match. If Arsenal beat united and we beat arsenal. Surely that makes us better than united right?
C'MON VILLA!!!
Just to refresh your memory re Milner, when Man U played Newcastle (1-1) on the opening day of this season, he was their best player.
Reply to evilla:
That's my line !!!!
Just seen the English team. How the hell can Capello pick Upson and Downing over Davies and Young.
We were told NOT to bother turning up at wembly in 1957 for the fa cup final against the truly fantastic busby babes, but we did and WON 2...1 Com on you villans!!
4-0 to man utd...
if we can get a result, fantastic, but it just aint gonna happen is it. their too good, and we always bottle it.
if they can prove me wrong like they did against arsenal....then brilliant! but i highly doubt they will
I'm going for a villa win, no Coker and Carew, 5 in the middle..!! After watching gaby tonight for england he's up for it..!! Lets hope Sidwell has a good game he is the missing link for us...!!!
"GET INTO 'EM!" Don't allow them to dictate the tempo of the game and look to exploit BROWN and EVRA as although they can be brilliant, they also make howlers and I reckon GABBY and ASH could have them in their back pocket.
Disrupt their midfield and unsettle ROONEY by tweaking his big ears. He's susceptible to the red mist. Remember what SAVAGE did to DUBLIN? My concern is that if MON pulls off another master stroke, ironically I think he will end up being their next manager.
If there was ever a better time to beat this lot then this is it. On the back of a fantastic win last week Villa must be feeling like we can beat anyone.
Before last week we hadnt beat Arsenal for 13 games and as it stands we havent beat Man Utd in the league for 13 years. An omen maybe??
Have just been on the red rants site and alot of the Man Ure fans are bricking themselves. Golden opportunity!
Manure will win...i reckon 2-0 but am praying for a draw at the least
i really like NRC but Petrov Barry and the ginger marauder are just playing much better.. he will get his chance
As for Milner..he looked nervous against Gooners.. everytime he got the ball it was like he was thinking ahead like he would try to turn clichy before he even had the ball.
i dont think carew should play..Gab is in to good form to disrupt him..and how Ashley Young didnt get a start against germany is completely f****d his ball which set up the clichy own goal..was unbelieveable..gallas had no idea
enough from me = ] UTV
Reply to Forest Hill Villan:
WAAAAAAY. someone with some sense.
2-1 villa
MON has found something with this 4-5-1. Villa won't win, but they will give ManU their toughest match in this series for a long time. And that will be progress. Aston Villa 1 (Laursen), Manchester United 2 (Rooney 2).
man united all the way.
Nice to see the realists out and about. I'd be happy with a score draw, preferably them taking a 2-0 lead and then us dragging oursleves back in to it. A win would be lovely but after this long it's almost impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
i think sidwell might have the game of his life on saturday he seems to be settling in really well and i hope he scores. if we sneak a goal in the first half that is the only chance i think weve got.
the good news is if we do score i think we are good enough defensively to hold out unlike previous seasons but will we score?
2 - 0 to utd
Reply to McParland:
Don't think our striker will get away with breaking their goalies jaw this time
come on the villa pit on a good show and play like we can play and i think we stand a chance of at least a draw so i am going for a brilliant draw if anyone asked me last week would we get 4 points from these two games i would have said no chance. so to say we can get 6 is that insane???????? bloody hell its actually possible
utv
I think that Villa will be 1-0 up at half time, but then It's got to be the greatest team on the earth to win 1-3...Manchester United All the way. Come on you Devils....S**t on the Villa..S**t on the Villa Today....oooohh aahhh ahhhh!
Just got a phone call to meet up with my cousin(Man Utd fan) here in Dublin. The last time we watched a Villa/Utd game together was at VP back in 1995 the last time we beat them. The Omens are good. Nothing can stop us. Just to make sure im also going to back UTD to jinx them. Come on the Villa.
does anyone keep up with the press here
no berbatov injured
no rooney injured
villa to strolol this one 2-0