Predictions: Casemiro backed to be key man

The Reds travel to Villa Park today (kick-off 14:00 GMT), looking to follow up last week’s 1-0 victory over West Ham with another three points.

But Villa have proven in the past to be tricky customers, and Unai Emery taking charge of the West Midlands club for the first time adds an extra element to the match, given our history with the Spaniard who only has two defeats in nine meetings with United over the years. 

One player who has impressed in recent weeks is Casemiro, as the Brazilian establishes himself as a fan favourite.

And ahead of our trip to Villa, our supporters are confident that the midfield general will play a pivotal role for the Reds once more.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Casemiro’s arrival at the club in the summer has been nothing short of a masterstroke by Erik ten Hag, with the enforcer helping to provide stability and bite to the central area for United.

Our Player of the Month for October is a reliable performer, and our fans believe he will be Man of the Match once more this weekend.

The Brazilian has 19 per cent of the Man-of-the-Match vote, at the time of writing, followed closely by fellow summer arrival Christian Eriksen, who has 16 per cent.

The other players in the top-five - Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lisandro Martinez – have all accumulated double figures for percentages of the vote too.

Here are the top five in this category:

19% = Casemiro

16% = Christian Eriksen

15% = Marcus Rashford

12% = Cristiano Ronaldo

10% = Lisandro Martinez

FIRST SCORER

The usual suspects are way out in front when it comes to the Reds that our supporters believe will get on the scoresheet first at Villa Park.

Once more, Rashford and Ronaldo share more than 70 per cent of the vote between them, with Marcus the favourite, with 42 per cent.

Fresh from his 100th club goal in our last Premier League fixture, against West Ham, it’s easy to see why fans are backing Marcus to get his 101st, against the Villans.

Ronaldo has 31 per cent, with our no.7 starting our previous two games, against the Hammers and Real Sociedad. He will no doubt be eager to get on the scoresheet again this weekend.

42% Marcus Rashford

31% = Cristiano Ronaldo

6% = Antony

4% = Alejandro Garnacho

4% = Bruno Fernandes

CORRECT SCORE

A whopping 41 per cent of fans believe that Ten Hag’s side will come away from Villa Park with a 2-0 win.

In addition, 91 per cent of voters are confident that the Reds will get the three points, with less than two per cent sensing a victory for Emery’s side.

Here are the top-five most popular score predictions:

41% = Aston Villa 0 United 2

16% = Aston Villa 1 United 2

15% = Aston Villa 0 United 3

12% = Aston Villa 1 United 3

6% = Aston Villa 0 United 1

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All of the above data was accurate at 11:00 GMT on Saturday.