Aston Villa v Man Utd – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Unai Emery’s side have won 15 of their last 17 matches. United are sixth in the table, but are without three players due to the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

Match: Aston Villa v Man Utd
When: Sunday, 21 Dec 2025

Aston Villa Form

Villa have won 15 of their last 17 matches in all competitions. Since losing 2-0 at Liverpool, it’s nine straight wins. A 2-0 home win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv preceded a 4-0 home victory over Bournemouth. They won 2-1 at Leeds and beat Young Boys 2-1 at home in Europe.

The Villains narrowly beat Wolves 1-0 at home before coming from 2-0 down to win 4-3 at Brighton. A 95^th minute goal brought a superb 2-1 home win over Arsenal before a 2-1 win at Basel. Last Sunday, they came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at West Ham from just 0.67 xG.

Aston Villa Team News

Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings are out injured for this match. Emi Martinez could return after missing the last two matches with a back problem.

Pau Torres is also close to being back in contention. Victor Lindelof is on standby to deputise in defence. Jadon Sancho is unable to face his parent club.

Aston Villa Motivation

Villa are brimming with confidence and belief. They will expect nothing less than a win against a depleted Man Utd side.  

Unai Emery’s team will keep it tight at times, but they carry plenty of attacking threat and have a strong bench.

Man Utd Form

United have seven league wins in the last 14 matches. After three straight wins, they drew 2-2 on the road at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham thanks to late equalisers. A 1-0 home loss to Everton came despite having 25 shots and facing ten men from the 13^th minute.

Man Utd came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 at Crystal Palace. A 1-1 home draw vs West Ham saw 17 shots attempted before smashing Wolves 4-1 away with 4.24 xG. Their last match saw a 4-4 home draw vs Bournemouth. United led 2-1 and 3-2 and put up 3.40 xG and 25 shots going forward.

Man Utd Team News

Coach Ruben Amorim is without trio Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui due to AFCON duty. Harry Maguire and Matthijs De Ligt are injured in defence.

Casemiro will serve a one-match ban, with Manuel Ugarte tipped to replace him. Benjamin Sesko is set to play up front with Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount in support.

Man Utd Motivation

United know they face an uphill battle. A draw would feel like a positive result at Villa Park.

Amorim’s side are without half a dozen potential starters. They could try to play pragmatically and try to be hard to beat in a back five.

Key Stats

• Aston Villa have won their last 9 matches
• Aston Villa have beaten Man Utd just once in the EPL at home since 1995
• Villa’s Morgan Rogers has 4 goals in his last 5 EPL matches
• Man Utd have won 7 of their last 14 league matches
• Man Utd have lost just 1 of their last 26 EPL matches at Villa Park (16 wins, 9 draws)

Verdict

United look this fixture, but Villa are flying and the Red Devils are shorn of their African players.

Best Bet: Aston Villa win at 2.10

Alternate Bet: Aston Villa win/draw double chance + Both Teams to Score at 2.15

Anytime Goalscorer Tip: Morgan Rogers at 3.25