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If you’re a United fan, you may only dimly remember their last game, which was on 4 March. (Their opponents that night, Newcastle, have played twice since, drawing with Barcelona and winning at Chelsea.) I tried to make sense of the defeat at St James’ Park for United Writing, the free newsletter I started with Rob Smyth to comment on nearly all United’s games, not just the glamorous ones.
My line was that there was no need to panic, as it had taken a worldie (from William Osula) for Carrick to lose his unbeaten record. It’s a view that may well look naive if United stumble again today. That’s sportswriting, though: as in politics, we can all be left looking clueless by events, dear boy, events.
Everyone is either too busy or not busy enough, a wise literary agent once told me. She was talking about authors but the point applies to sportspeople too.
Which would you rather be? Morgan Rogers, ricocheting from Lille to Manchester with an England camp looming, or, say, Luke Shaw, who’s just had a weekend off, may not get an England recall and could soon find himself with a 24-day lull between United’s trip to Bournemouth this Friday and the home game against Leeds on 13 April. That’s not just an international break: it’s a full Easter holidays.
This is a big game, but it may not be the biggest game Manchester United have this afternoon. Their women’s team play Chelsea in the League Cup final, kicking off at 2.15pm GMT, a quarter of an hour after the men. It’s a curious clash that would present a dilemma for many club owners, though perhaps not Jim Ratcliffe. We’re live-blogging both, with Billy Munday covering the final.
Teams in full
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) Lammens; Dalot, Yoro, Maguire, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo.
Subs: Bayindir, Mazraoui, Heaven, Malacia, Ugarte, T Fletcher, Mount, Zirkzee, Sesko.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Bogarde, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Onana, Barkley; Buendia, McGinn, Rogers; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Garcia, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen, Luiz, Elliott, Bailey, Abraham.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Teams in brief: Villa
Unai Emery shakes up his midfield. John McGinn is back from the start, as mooted, and he’s joined by Ross Barkley, who usually gets only a cameo. At a guess, McGinn will be the no. 10 and Barkley the 8, with Amadou Onana as the 6.
Teams in brief: Man United
Michael Carrick makes two changes, which may be a record for his current stint. Benjamin Sesko reverts to the bench as Amad comes back in, so it looks as if Bryan Mbeumo will start down the middle, as he did for Carrick’s first few games. In defence, Diogo Dalot returns at right-back in place of Noussair Mazraoui.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone, happy Mother’s Day and welcome to a six-pointer. It’s third against fourth and, unlike the top two, Manchester United and Aston Villa are neck-and-neck, separated only by goal difference.
Villa have one more win but United have three more draws. United lost their last game, 2-1 at Newcastle, whereas Villa won theirs, 1-0 at Lille. United have had a ten-day break, while Villa, who have played ten more games this season, are back to the Thursday-Sunday grind – though if any manager thrives on that, it’s Unai Emery, the grandmaster of the Europa League.
When this fixture last took place, just before Christmas, it was a tale of two inside-lefts. Morgan Rogers scored for Villa, Matheus Cunha replied for United, Rogers did it again and then Cunha missed a sitter. Bruno Fernandes was forced off by a rare injury, which meant that United’s midfield went from middling (Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte) to makeshift (Ugarte and Lisandro Martinez, then Martinez and Jack Fletcher). The difference between the sides was Rogers’ wizardry, which put Villa ten points ahead of United. That gap has now been closed by Michael Carrick, who was Rogers’ manager and mentor at Middlesbrough.
United should be stronger today, with a settled midfield duo of Casemiro (suspended last time) and the revitalised Kobbie Mainoo. But then Villa could have John McGinn, their driving force, making his first start since a knee operation in January.
If Carrick’s new-manager bounce has been fading, he’s still got it at home, where he has won four games out of four. But Villa, the only English team to win in Europe this week, could be coming out of their slump. And both camps will have been cheered by Chelsea’s unexpected defeat last night.
My considered opinion is that it’s too close to call.
