Manchester United travel to Aston Villa hoping to make it two wins from two to start the season, but they’ll have to win these battles to stand a chance.
The Reds travel down south to Villa Park, where they haven’t lost since 1999, with holes in their squad still gaping despite what some will say has been a fairly successful transfer window for the squad.
Despite glaring weakness at centre-back and a lack of depth up front, United will be looking to build on their opening day win against Tottenham against an Aston Villa side that were less than impressive in their opening day win over Bournemouth.
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Villa will look to target the weakness of the United defence without doubt and it’ll be down to the midfield to protect them properly and the defenders of choice to do their jobs properly if they are to continue their undefeated streak against Tim Sherwood’s side.
Rudy Gestede vs Daley Blind
Aston Villa brought in Rudy Gestede from Blackburn this summer after a season of phenomenal goalscoring from the lanky Benin international. He repaid them instantly with the winning goal from the substitutes bench on the opening day, with a trademark header.
Daley Blind has been a stand-in central defender for Manchester United throughout pre-season and started the game against Spurs. While he looked rather shaky at times, his distribution from the back was something that van Gaal is looking for and he has been able to see Blind and Carrick interchange mid-game on occasion too.
Gestede’s physicality will no doubt be an issue for Blind to deal with. Chris Smalling would be a much better match for van Gaal’s Manchester United side but if Gestede has anything about him he’ll pin himself to Blind and cause as much havoc as he can on his full debut.
Idrissa Gueye vs Morgan Schneiderlin
A real box-to-box battle, Gueye and Schneiderlin will be the engines of their respective midfields on Friday night. Gueye’s passing and physical attributes set the tone for a Tim Sherwood side and the Senegal international was brought into the side to replace Fabian Delph.
Schneiderlin’s attributes are well known to the Premier League. A midfield powerhouse with technique, passing ability and phenomenal positional sense will help Louis van Gaal’s side move up to the next level. He had an excellent debut against Tottenham on the opening day and while he does the dirty work that goes unnoticed, he’s always there when he needs to stand up and be counted.
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Both men will look to control their zone in the centre of the pitch and whoever can get the upper hand will likely see their side with the ball and applying pressure to the opposition for the majority of the match.
Micah Richards vs Wayne Rooney
A former Manchester City star, Micah Richards made his return to the Premier League after a year in Serie A on loan at Fiorentina with Villa during the summer on a free transfer. He was instantly appointed captain following Fabian Delph’s departure and has used his experience and leadership qualities to assert his dominance in a young Aston Villa side.
Wayne Rooney on the other hand is finally beginning a season at Manchester United as the first-choice striker once again. He started against Spurs in his favoured striker role and should have opened the scoring, only for Kyle Walker to take it off his toe and put it into his own net instead. While he looked off the pace at Old Trafford last week, he’ll surely only get better as the games come thick and fast and he loves a game against the Villa usually.
Both players are quick, powerful and good with the ball at their feet so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this end in a stalemate. One thing Rooney will have in his favour is willing runners and goal-threats around him in Young, Mata and Memphis so should he drop deep and take Richard’s away, it will leave a gaping hole for United to exploit. While Rooney may lose this battle, it could lead to his side winning the war in the end.