Aston Villa v United: The stats you need to know
Manchester United are hoping to strengthen our Champions League aspirations with a victory against Aston Villa on Thursday.
The Reds have enjoyed our trips to Villa Park in previous years and, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men in such a rich vein of form, the United boss will be hoping to inflict another defeat on Villa, who are fighting to stave off relegation.
Ahead of the game, we’ve collated all the need-to-know facts and figures, including which new Premier League record we could achieve with a win on Thursday….
FACING VILLA
Aston Villa have won just one of the last 42 Premier League meetings with United, and that came in December 2009. The Reds are also unbeaten in the last 20 away league clashes with Thursday’s opponents, a run that stretches back to 1995! It’s actually the longest unbeaten away run one team has had against another in top-flight history.
Villa haven’t won any of the last 15 games against United in all competitions, including the 2-2 draw between the sides in December.
LEADING GOALSCORERS
The top scorer in this fixture in the Premier League is Wayne Rooney with 12 goals - four more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Villa’s highest scorer in Premier League meetings with United is Gabby Agbonlahor with four strikes.
Four current Reds have netted for United against Villa - Phil Jones, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Victor Lindelof, all with one goal apiece.
VILLA’S FORM
The Villans haven’t won in nine league games - that victory came against Watford in January - and the West Midlands outfit have drawn two and lost seven of those clashes. During that run, Villa have scored only five times but they did reach the Carabao Cup final, where they were unlucky to lose to Manchester City.
The Reds are unbeaten in 16 games in all competitions. In the league, we haven’t lost in nine outings, a record that only Liverpool (27) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (11) have beaten. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have also won each of the last three games, by a combined scoreline of 11-2.
HISTORY BECKONS
United are looking to become the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive matches by a margin of three or more goals.
Paul Scholes picked up more Premier League bookings against Aston Villa (9) than any other side in his career.
From his nine Premier League matches, Bruno Fernandes has been involved in 11 goals (six goals, five assists). Only five players have had as many as goal involvements in their first 10 games in the competition – Micky Quinn (13), Alan Shearer, Kevin Phillips, Sergio Aguero and Papiss Cisse (all 12). The Portuguese midfielder is also the fastest player in Premier League history to accumulate five goals and five assists. The previous record was held by Andrey Arshavin, who achieved that milestone in 10 games.
Mason Greenwood has bagged 15 goals in all competitions for the Reds this season – the only teenagers to score more goals in a season are George Best in 1965-66, Brian Kidd in 1967-68 and Wayne Rooney in 2004-05 (all 17 goals).
MAGICAL MARTIAL
Anthony Martial needs just one more goal to become the 10th player to net 50 times in the Premier League for United. The Frenchman is also the joint-leading Premier League scorer in 2020 (alongside Mohamed Salah) with eight goals from 13 appearances.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Jon Moss will take charge of this fixture for the first time on Thursday. The 49-year-old has previously sent off one United player (Rashford) and, when refereeing Villa, has dismissed two players: Jordan Ayew and Alan Hutton, who are no longer at the club.
Stats sourced from Opta and Apps4Stats.com.