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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 19
Manchester United v Aston Villa
Turf Moor
Burnley, England
Tuesday, 26 December 2023
Kick-off is at 22h00
Erik ten Hag faces the most important fixture of his
Manchester United tenure when high-flying Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on Tuesday, December 26 in the late kick-off.
The records keep tumbling for the Red Devils, who failed to score in four successive matches for the first time since 1992 after being beaten 2-0 by West Ham at the London Stadium on December 23.
It was United's eighth league defeat of the season to pile the pressure on Ten Hag, with the club not having lost that many games before Christmas since 1930.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe could very well decide to pull the trigger if Ten Hag's side lose to Villa on Boxing Day following confirmation that he had acquired a 25 per cent of the Red Devils on December 24 and is now in charge of football operations.
United dropped down to eighth in the standings and are now eight points outside the top four and 12 adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
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The Villans (3rd) missed out of the chance to leapfrog Liverpool (2nd) and the Gunners into top spot after being held to a 1-1 draw by rock-bottom Sheffield United at Villa Park.
However, Unai Emery's side remain one of the in-form teams in the top flight, having gone unbeaten in their last seven outings to stay within a point of the summit.
Ten Hag has a decision to make in midfield as Bruno Fernandes' game has suffered due to the inclusion of Scott McTominay in the team. The Portuguese star hasn't had a goal involvement since the 3-0 win over Everton on November 26 when he scored or assisted in 16 different matches - the joint-most in the league
alongside Mohamed Salah over a three-year period.
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Ollie Watkins will fancy his chances against a porous United defence despite only scoring once in this fixture, which came in the third round of the EFL Cup last season. The striker has bagged nine goals in 18 appearances for Villa this term, but he's only found the back of the net once in his last four matches.
Ten Hag insists that United's attackers and goals in them, but admits they are lacking in confidence at the moment.
"They are capable [of turning things around]," the Dutchman said. "I know [Marcus] Rashford can score a goal, [Rasmus] Hojlund can score a goal, Antony can score a goal, [Alejandro] Garnacho can score a goal, Bruno can score a goal, Scott McTominay can score a goal.
"We have the scoring abilities in our squad, and also from set plays, but in this moment we are not doing that. They have to stick together and also believe in themselves that they can do it."
Emery expressed his pride in taking Villa up to third at Christmas, although he is not about to underestimate the Red Devils and wants to show that his team can go toe-to-toe with the big-name clubs.
"We are now on match 18, we are going to finish in Manchester on Tuesday on match 19, the first half of the season. And we are demanding," the Spaniard said.
"We are happy. I am proud of our work, our way, with our supporters and the players. But I want to finish on Tuesday trying to face Manchester United, really, how we can face them being in this moment better than them in the table.
"They are contenders to be in the top seven, top four teams more than us. Tuesday is a very good match for us how we can face them, how we are with them until match 19, how we are facing the teams who are contenders more than us in the table to be there."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Man United - 2
Aston Villa - 2
Draws - 1
Premier League Matchday 19 fixtures:
Tuesday, December 26
14h30: Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest
17h00: Bournemouth v Fulham
17h00: Sheffield United v Luton Town
19h30: Burnley v Liverpool
22h00: Manchester United v Aston Villa
Wednesday, December 27
21h30: Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers
21h30: Chelsea v Crystal Palace
22h15: Everton v Manchester City
Thursday, December 28
21h30: Brighton & Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur
22h15: Arsenal v West Ham United
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