Will Villa's new head coach oversee a first league double over the United since 1954...
Unai Emery kicks off his Aston Villa reign against Manchester United – a side that the Lions have historically struggled against – and bet365 are 16/1 about his new club doing the double over the Red Devils.
The four-time Europa League winning head coach oversaw his first training session in the Midlands on Wednesday, as the Spaniard attempts to galvanise the Premier League strugglers and inspire them to victory over Erik ten Hag’s men on Sunday.
The former Arsenal, Sevilla and PSG boss faces a daunting opening fixture with his new side having not registered a home league victory over United since 1995 – a remarkable run which now stretches 23 matches!
As previous results go, Emery couldn’t have been dealt a tougher hand than United at home with his new charges winless against the Red Devils at Villa Park in almost three decades, whilst they haven’t taken maximum points against them in a single season since the 1954/55 campaign.
The last time they did manage to do so was over the Christmas period in 54’ when they followed up a 1-0 win at Old Trafford on the 27th December with a 2-1 home success just 24 hours later - back in the day when players were duty-bound to play two matches in as many days.
Imagine the outcry if that were the case today!
Aston Villa Points v Manchester United:
| 0 Points - 2/1 | 1 Point - 9/4 | 2 Points - 12/1 |
| 3 Points - 13/5 | 4 Points - 7/1 | 6 Points - 16/1 |
It’s not all been doom and gloom in recent times though as Villa did manage to claw back a 2-0 deficit in January when an inspired Philippe Coutinho sparkled off the bench on his debut for the club, and with the future looking bright in the second city with Steven Gerrard at the helm.
However, such impacts have been few and far between this season with the Brazilian accumulating more cards than goals and assists combined; a remarkable stat that new boss Emery will be desperate to help address as he looks to get his own reign off to a flyer.
They are going to have to go some to do that though, with United riding into town on the back of a five-game domestic unbeaten run of form – a sharp turnaround since fierce rivals Manchester City slammed six past them at the Etihad Stadium last month.
United are the 21/20 favourites to maintain their recent upturn in fortunes and seal the points at Villa Park this weekend, with the home side, who are 2/1 to lose both Premier league games against the Red Devils, priced up at 12/5.
All odds displayed in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change at any time.
