Everything is suddenly rosy at Manchester United after the consecutive victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool mean Louis van Gaal can look upwards towards the leaders, Chelsea, as is his stated wish. Yet as the final stretch of the “rat race” to qualify for the Champions League is entered Aston Villa arrive at Old Trafford having drawn 1-1 in the reverse fixture, despite having only 10 men for the final 25 minutes due to Gabriel Agbonlahor’s red card in that December game. This resilience means United may have a difficult time maintaining momentum though, really, given their £150m-plus summer transfer spend there should be only one victor. Jamie Jackson
Kick-off Saturday 3pm
Venue Old Trafford
Last season Manchester Utd 4 Aston Villa 1
Referee R East
This season G13, Y46, R2, 3.85 cards per game
Odds H 1-3 A 12-1 D 9-2
Manchester Utd
Subs from Valdes, Lindegaard, Vermijl, Amos, Thorpe, Pereira, Blackett,
Lingard, McNair, Falcao, Da Silva, Di María, Januzaj, Rojo, Shaw
Doubtful Smalling (illness)
Injured Van Persie (ankle, 25 Apr)
Suspended Evans (fourth of six)
Form WLWWWW
Discipline Y56 R4
Leading scorer Rooney 11
Aston Villa
Subs from Given, Sánchez, Westwood, Kinsella, Grealish, Weimann, Cole, Senderos
Doubtful Senderos, Vlaar (both calf)
Injured Cissokho (groin, 11 Apr), Richardson (calf, 11 Apr), Baker (knee, 11 Apr), Herd (knee, 1 Jun), Kozak (broken leg, unknown)
Suspended None
Unavailable Cleverley (terms of loan)
Suspended None
Form LLLWWL
Discipline Y62 R6
Leading scorer Agbonlahor 6
