Manchester United will face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on match day 38, bringing this disappointing campaign to an end with a home fixture
At the time of writing, Manchester United are 16th on the log with 39 points, while Aston Villa are placed 6th with 63 points after the same number of matches played.
Manchester United “dropped” out of the league a long time ago to concentrate on Europe, where they will be facing Tottenham in the final of the Europa League. On the other hand, Unai Emery’s men are chasing a Champions League ticket for next season, so it is an important fixture for them.
Without any doubt, it has been a rollercoaster campaign for the Red Devils, who suffered a slow start under former coach Erik Ten Hag before he was sacked at the start of November. Manchester United started the campaign with high hopes, especially after their FA Cup triumph over Manchester City at the end of last season. There were speculations that the new INEOS board, which took the reins of the club last season, would sack Ten Hag. But instead, they kept the faith and handed him a contract extension.
The former Premier League champions started the campaign on a high, picking up a hard-fought 1-0 win over Fulham. That win was not convincing enough, as the Cottagers exposed Manchester United a few times. But the Red Devils only managed to escape unscathed because of Fulham’s profligacy in front of goal.
Manchester United’s frailties were eventually exposed in their second game against a talented and well-tutored Brighton side. Then, in their third game of the season, they fell characteristically to Liverpool. It was not even a vintage Liverpool performance, but Manchester United still failed to eke out a decent result.
The Red Devils huffed and puffed, but they ended up with a goalless draw against Crystal Palace. Then, in the game that followed, they were torn apart by a rampant Tottenham Hotspur side, as they lost 3-0. Along the line, Manchester United went on to snatch a draw against Aston Villa and claimed a big 2-1 win over Brentford at Old Trafford.
As a result of a 2-1 loss at West Ham, Erik Ten Hag was sacked. Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who was brought in as Ten Hag’s assistant at first, then led the team to a draw against Chelsea and a 3-1 win over Leicester City. Not long after, Ruben Amorim was named the new man in the dugout, and he took charge of his first game against Ipswich some weeks ago. And although it was a disappointing performance, Manchester United escaped with a draw. Since then, it has been ups and downs for Manchester United in the Premier League. Meanwhile, in the Europa League, they defeated Athletic Bilbao to book their place in the final. It is United’s only chance of making it to Europe next season, and it is easy to see why the Premier League is no longer a thing for them.
On the other hand, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who were busy during the transfer window, started the season well. In the Premier League, the Villans won three of their opening four games of the season, losing to only Arsenal during the run. It was their only defeat of the season until they lost to Liverpool and Tottenham in November.
They have blown hot and cold at times across all competitions. In the Premier League, Unai Emery’s men drew with Palace after losing to Liverpool before another defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They bounced back with back-to-back wins over Brentford and Southampton. Following that small good form, they then lost to Nottingham Forest before beating Manchester City at home, surprisingly.
Similarly, they also started well in Europe, and are one of the teams set for a place in the next round of the competition. The Birmingham club beat Young Boys and Bayern Munich in their first two games of the UCL before losing to Club Brugge and a goalless draw with Juventus. Their fantastic run in the Champions League ended at the quarterfinals stage, where they were knocked out by PSG. At the time of writing, Villa have won seven of their past 10 games in all competitions.
Villa got an important win over Bournemouth on match day 36 to be within range of the teams competing for the UEFA Champions League spots. Despite how good Villa have been in recent seasons, they have failed to win at Old Trafford, and the Red Devils will be confident they can end the season on a high.
On a general note, Manchester United have dominated this fixture over the years, and with this being their final game of the season, expect Ruben Amorim to play his best legs for this one. By the way, the last time Villa won at Old Trafford was in 2021, and nine losses at home for United this term give a pointer to the visitors that they can do it again.
In terms of the head-to-head, from the past 61 games played between Manchester United and Aston Villa since 1995, Manchester United have won 42, Aston Villa have won 4, and the remaining 15 games have been stalemates.
Match tickets
This match at Old Trafford in Manchester starts on Sunday, 25th May 2025, at 16:00 GMT.
The 75,635-capacity stadium is the place for this clash between the Red Devils and the Villans.
Getting Manchester United v Aston Villa tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Amorim has several of his players out injured. Joshua Zirkzee and Lisandro Martinez are out for the rest of the season, and Ayden Heaven remains sidelined. Amad Diallo has returned to the side alongside Mason Mount, who made a significant impact in the win over Bilbao in the Europa League. It is expected that Amorim will deploy his best side for this final Premier League game of the season.
Manchester United XI: Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Shaw; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Mainoo, Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Hojlund.
Even though he is not eligible to face them, injured Marcus Rashford is Aston Villa’s major absentee. Another blow for Emery is the unavailability of Youri Tielemans, who suffered a muscular injury recently. Ollie Watkins will lead the line in Rashford’s absence and will be looking to add to his tally after his winner in his side’s last away win at Bournemouth.
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Onana; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
Prediction
Manchester United have already lost 9 times at Old Trafford in the Premier League this season. It has been a poor campaign by all standards, and one most United fans will love to forget quickly. Meanwhile, it is important to get Manchester United tickets for this final Premier League game of the season.
As for Aston Villa, their sights are fixed on a place in the UEFA Champions League for next season, and that makes this match very important for them. In the reverse fixture at Villa Park, it was a draw. However, Manchester United have won three of the past four meetings between them, with the other game being a draw. Villa have a lot to do mentally to take significant points from this game.
Manchester United 2-2 Aston Villa
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