Man Utd v Villa: Heroes or Villans at Old Trafford

With pressure mounting on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United host Aston Villa looking for just their third win in eight. Can the Norwegian boss save his job? Have a read of our preview here:

Crisis, you bet your life there’s a crisis

There is this feeling at Old Trafford that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has all the time in the world to get United back to their glory days, but someone should tell him that this is 2019.

In this modern, new age of impatience and short-termism, no one gets that long to fix things even if you are a former legend at the club. A time will come where a manager is under pressure if his side doesn’t score within the first 10 minutes of his first game so you can imagine the United fans on social media were apoplectic when the Red Devils trailed Sheffield United 2-0 with 18 minutes to go at the weekend.

It turned out that Solskjaer was just biding his time and three goals in seven minutes turned the game on his head and reminded everyone what United used to be like.

The Blades brought the crowd back down to earth and the vast majority of Man Utd fans were crying into their beers while sat in their local, London, pub as Ollie McBurnie bagged a stoppage-time equaliser.

The problem for the Red Devils is they are only good in bursts and the rest of the time they have about as much invention as the average contestant on The Apprentice – depressing stuff indeed.

Hosting Villa at Old Trafford has a familiar, comfortable feeling as two sides who have locked horns many times, prepare to battle it out again but neither are the side they once were.

Villa still finding their feet

It has been a difficult start to life back in the Premier League for the Villans but the win over Newcastle on Monday night just eases off the pressure following three straight defeats.

Dean Smith has been trying to find a way of winning consistently but defeats to Man City, Liverpool and Wolves will not be what defines their season. It is victories against sides in and around them that will decide which division Villa play in next season.

On paper, the Birmingham club have far too much to go down but the English top-flight is a ruthless division which can swallow good sides when low on confidence. That is why beating Newcastle was so important. It stops the rot while also depriving a relegation rival of three points.

Villa are now just a point behind the Magpies in the table and will go to Old Trafford on a high.

Manchester United vs Aston Villa betting tip

Given Manchester United’s recent defensive woes and Villa’s last result, backing both teams to score at odds of 17/20 is definitely worth a shout here.

Bet Both teams to score on William Hill