Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, wants to lead his team to victory versus Aston Villa on Sunday. Express Sport anticipates that the Dutchman will take a chance by selecting the same lineup that drew Tottenham 2-2 on Thursday night. With 60 points from 31 games thus far, the Red Devils will enter the game seeking to increase their chances of finishing in the top four.
If United plays the same lineup that drew with Tottenham, David De Gea will start in goal. With his current contract set to expire at the conclusion of the season, the future of the Spain international is currently up for discussion. Although De Gea occasionally makes mistakes, the 32-year-old has performed admirably this season overall.
While Diogo Dalot is moved to the left back position, Aaron Wan-Bissaka should remain in the right-back position.
At center-back, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are expected to start, especially with players like Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, and Raphael Varane all presently sidelined with injuries.
Recently, Casemiro's United performances have dipped, alarming some supporters in the process. Nevertheless, despite his dip in performance, he remains the most crucial midfielder for the Red Devils, and it is difficult to imagine Ten Hag benching him.
Christian Eriksen performed admirably against Tottenham and, as a result, deserves a spot in his manager's starting lineup. The same is true for Bruno Fernandes, who is expecting to lead the team once more in the absence of Maguire.
Marcus Rashford might start in the middle of the field up top.
While Anthony Martial has been at his best this season on the left flank, he still struggles to stay consistent, and Wout Weghorst is simply insufficient.
In Thursday night's 2-2 draw between United and Tottenham, Rashford displayed his skill as a striker by scoring his team's second goal.
Jadon Sancho also hit the mark, but he afterwards lost it. Taking the England international off the team would be detrimental to his growth, though, as he is beginning to show that he is the real deal.
While Antony fluctuates in his performance, Ten Hag trusts the Brazil international, so he ought to start on the right wing.
United and Villa will meet for the third time this season when they play at Old Trafford.
Back in November, the Red Devils left for the Midlands as a club on the rise after putting a rocky start to the season behind them.
However, United was defeated 3-1, with goals from Jacob Ramsey, Lucas Digne, and Leon Bailey.
The two teams rematched a few days later.
In addition, United eliminated Unai Emery's team from the Carabao Cup with a 4-2 victory over them to exact revenge for their loss to Villa. Martial, Rashford, Fernandes, and Scott McTominay all scored goals in the victory.
Speaking ahead of the game with Villa, meanwhile, Ten Hag admitted United were still very much a work in progress.
"We had some games like two weeks ago against [Nottingham] Forest,” he said when asked if his side were playing at the level he expected. “I think that was, for instance, quite a game [that] was almost [at] optimum and you see it's not so easy to play Forest.
“You see Liverpool struggling. You see yesterday Brighton is struggling there, but that was a very good performance [from] our side and we have had more games but I have to think which games.
"But especially I think [against] City there was it was a brilliant game from our side and we had more."
“I also think Arsenal, both games, we played very well and there were many games where we were very dominant."
“So I like to play, for instance, Real Betis at home, Barcelona. So we had our games where we played very good football."
The acquisition of a new striker is Erik ten Hag's top objective for this summer, he said.
A statement that was made immediately after Manchester United supporters serenaded England captain Harry Kane with "We'll see you in June" chants.
Spurs' star Kane acknowledged hearing the song on Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as United took a 2-0 lead before finally drawing 2-2.
A new center-forward needs to be added in the forthcoming transfer window, according to United manager Ten Hag, who has Kane and Napoli's prolific scorer Victor Osimhen in his sights.
“Yeah, I think everyone knows,” he said when asked if a new No.9 will be his priority. “It’s not a secret that over the whole season we had a shortage of No.9s."
"First, we had the dropout of Ronaldo, then Antony Martial was often not available, Jadon Sancho was often not available, then you have a shortage of frontline players."
“With less players we have to cover many games, so definitely we need in the frontline players who strengthen the squad."
“You can approach that from many ways. The typical No.9, Rashford can also play very good as a No. 9 and Anthony Martial is a great No.9"
“We have players who can play in that role but, definitely, we need some offensive players who are really impact players, quality players, who improve the frontline.”
Marcus Rashford has scored a lot of goals this year; his wonderful goal against Spurs was his 29th overall at the club level and by far his best performance.
The fans of United, whoever they sign, will be salivating at the thought of having a new goal-getter with Rashford banging them in. That total includes his run of eight goals in seven games following the World Cup.
Ten Hag added: “We worked on Rashford as a No.9.
“He can do both — it depends on the opposition, which role is the best fit.
“It’s also the formation that’s important for him, to bring players around him and especially to bring players in the back from him in the formation, where he can make combinations and make movements.
“He’s doing that very well and I’m happy and satisfied with his role."
"But, also, when he’s playing from the left he has a big impact on our games.”
Ten Hag and United will be hoping he can make a significant difference against Aston Villa tonight in a match that has unexpectedly evolved into a fight for a Champions League position.
Since taking over, Unai Emery has completely changed Villa, and if they defeat United at Old Trafford tonight, they would fall just three points short of Ten Hag and his team despite having played two more games.
The Europa League is a far more likely goal for Villa, but if they defeat United, Ten Hag believes they can do it because Emery orchestrated a victory over them in his first match after taking over for Steven Gerrard.
The Dutchman said: “We met him in the first game and he surprised us."
“We were low energy levels so we have to avoid that, but he surprised us with the system."
"Three days after, we learnt a lot from that game and we bounced back and had a good win over them."
“This will be a tough game, we’re totally aware of it, this team made good progression."
“But it’s up to us, if we’re ready for the game, we have the right energy levels, with the right focus, at Old Trafford with the fans behind us, then we know we have a good chance to win this game because we know we are very strong.”
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