Aston Villa vs Manchester United

A tricky tie to Villa Park awaits the mighty Red Devils in their quest to win the Premiership back from their Chelsea. Manchester United put up a very disappointing performance last week against a revived West Ham United under the leadership and guidance of Alan Curbishley. Chelsea somehow managed to sneak in a 2-3 against Everton, which meant that there is only a two point difference between them and United. If the Red Devils lose today at Villa Park and Chelsea do the honors away at Wigan, it will be the first time they would be on top this season. Martin O’Neal will be the crucial factor in this match and probably one of the major factors due to which Villa is holding 9th position in the league.

There are no injury worries for United except Patrice Evra who is still out with a calf injury, but with Heinze there in the squad there should be no problems for Ferguson. The form of Rooney, Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs will be of utmost importance as they have been United’s main force this season. Alan Smith is still not fully fit and is involved in a ‘speed program’ as reported by the club.

Aston Villa have a couple of doubts ahead of this match. Gavin McCann will face a late fitness test and could be included in the squad on the basis of that. Craig Gardner could feature in todays match probably starting in the midfield.

United could just be on the downside for my liking, and the pressure put by Chelsea could prove to be a lot. I fancy Aston Villa to get something out of this match, if not I don’t see them getting beat convincingly. An Asian Handicap bet on Aston Villa (+1.5) at 2.0 is a great bet in my opinion. Aston Villa to win either half is at 2.75 and is a possible outcome.