Man United vs Aston Villa Preview: xT from passes, dribbles, xG and more – the stats | OneFootball

Aston Villa will visit Old Trafford for their clash against Man United this weekend in the Premier League. Aston Villa will be going into the clash after an impressive performance against Everton as they beat the Merseyside team 3-0 – scoring three goals in nine minutes. United had to rely on the heroics of David de Gea, as the Spaniard saved a last-minute penalty to secure all three points for the Red Devils in their previous game against West Ham.

United have 13 points from five games and currently sit in third on the same points as the leaders but are behind due to a lower goal difference. They have scored the most goals than any other team in the league.

In their previous match against West Ham, even though United conceded the first goal, they dominated the pace of the game throughout. They created more chances than West Ham and had a higher xG. The xT timeline from the above viz indicates the same. Cristiano Ronaldo stood out again as he scored their first goal and also attempted the most number of shots on target. He now has three goals in his two starts for United.

Manchester United have been most dangerous when their midfielders receive the ball near the final third. As seen in the above viz, we can see that most of the United midfielders created a high threat with their passes as well as the dribbles attempted.

Aston Villa won their previous game against an opponent who were undefeated since the start of the league. They were inspired by a prolific 21-minute cameo from Leon Bailey who contributed to two of the three goals they scored. But Bailey was forced to leave the pitch just 21 minutes after coming on because of an injury.

Aston Villa are the third-best team in terms of winning aerial duels. They have had 94 successful aerial duels so far and have attempted nearly 17 aerial duels per 90 minutes. For the last two matches of the league, Villa have adopted a three at the back formation and have been playing with a defensive approach against bigger teams. It has been observed that since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, the United players have been attempting more crosses. Ronaldo has the ability and leap to reach these crosses but with three centre backs, it is highly likely that the Villa defenders will double up against him and be able to deal with these crosses.

Aston Villa will also be looking for a better performance from their front two, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins. Both strikers had a great game against Chelsea but were inactive in the game against Everton.

Aston Villa will be looking for another inspirational performance from their players as they did against Everton, but it is still unsure whether Leon Bailey will be a part of the squad for their visit to Manchester. They are currently 10th on the table with two wins and will look to their points tally to move up a few places. United on the other hand will have a great chance to move into the top two as leaders Chelsea face Manchester City at the same time.