Manchester United v Aston Villa Betting Tips
Manchester United have won six of their eight games under Michael Carrick. At Old Trafford, there have been four victories in the space of four matches. On the road, there have been two successes, one draw and a defeat at St James' Park where the Red Devils failed to take advantage of numerical superiority in the second half.
United haven't been altogether convincing at home. They were sluggish and trailed against Palace before Maxence Lacroix was sent off in the 56th minute which led to Bruno Fernandes equalising from the penalty spot. They were also given a foot up by Tottenham when Cristian Romero was sent off and this led to a 2-0 success.
Even so, there's no doubt that United will be fresh and have lots of quality attacking players. Benjamin Sesko has found a scoring touch in front of goal, with Bryan Mbuemo, Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes are all capable of firing. Casemiro also boasts an aerial threat and there are likely to be lots of bets for United to win.
As for Aston Villa, they've avoided defeat in ten of their fourteen away matches this season. However, recent form has been poor. In the past six Premier League games, the Villans have taken just five points from these half dozen encounters. On the road, they took a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth before a 2-0 defeat at Molineux.
Indeed, that loss coupled with a 4-1 home reverse against Chelsea means that there's a struggle defensively and ten goals have been shipped in the past four top-flight encounters. Perhaps the Midlands side were always punching above their weight earlier in the campaign when being talked about as potential title contenders.
The bookies have United at odds-on which suggests a greater than 50% chance of success and it's hard to argue against this based on recent trends.
Goals Under/Over
Over 2.5 Goals is a likely outcome according to the Premier League betting sites. There's a 60% chance of three or more being scored, with this happening in five of the eight Manchester United matches under Michael Carrick.
At home, there was a 2-1 win over Palace after a 2-0 win over Tottenham, although this was preceded by a 3-2 success against Fulham. The price is operating so short mainly down to Aston Villa's defensively flimsy ways although they've not been playing out Over 2.5 Goals games too much of the time.
Eight of the past nine Premier League encounters featuring the Villans have been Under 2.5 Goals and perhaps Emery's side will adopt a defensive approach in this clash. The visitors will be happy to take a point and look to be altogether more solid at the back.
BTTS
Both teams to score is likely to be a popular selection and there haven't been any Manchester United games under Michael Carrick where the Red Devils have failed to score. Over the season, United average more than two goals per home clash and they've notched at least two in all the matches at Old Trafford since Ruben Amorim left the club.
If we work on the basis that United are very likely to score, it comes down more to whether Aston Villa will find the net. It's worth watching out for what happens at Lille on Thursday night. Unai Emery may rotate his squad for the two games and his team have scored in five of the past six top-flight matches, with a 2-0 defeat at Wolves the only time that a blank has been drawn.
When the sides met in December, Villa landed a 2-1 success thanks to a Morgan Rogers double, with both meetings involving the teams ending in BTTS No. A goalless draw was played out in early October at Villa Park before United were able to score a 2-0 victory and perhaps the visitors might draw a blank.
First Goalscorer
Bryan Mbuemo needs one more goal to reach a double figure tally in the Premier League this season and the Cameroon international has failed to score in the past four matches. Previously to this, there were three goals in the space of four games following the forward's return from AFCON, although he's being played in a slightly deeper role.
That's because Benjamin Sesko has hit a scoring streak and the Slovenian has scored seven times in the space of nine games. He got going after bagging a brace at Burnley and he scored in three successive clashes before drawing a blank at St James' Park. However, the forward did manage to last ninety minutes on the pitch.
Casemiro has found the net twice in the past six matches and it's possible that Harry Maguire will come good from set pieces considering his prowess and the potential weakness within the ranks at Villa.
For the visitors, Morgan Rogers might have seemed a decent wager a few weeks ago, but the England man has been stuck on eight Premier League goals for a few games. He has now gone five matches without striking and it's been seven matches without a goal for Ollie Watkins.