At 1:30 a.m. Beijing time on January 16, the 22nd round of the Premier League will usher in a focus battle: Aston Villa hosts Manchester United.
As a traditional powerhouse in the top league of English football, Aston Villa, like Liverpool, can't get their hands on the results of the Premier League era. Thirty years after the Premier League, Liverpool have also won a top flight title in the Klopp era, and have also won the Champions League twice in 2005 and 2019, and are also regular visitors to the Champions League, which Aston Villa cannot match.
After returning to the Premier League in 2019-20, Aston Villa showed a revival, which eventually finished at 17th in the Premier League table and successfully relegated. Entering the 2020-21 season, Aston Villa had a 7-2 bloodbath at home to defending champions Liverpool, but the follow-up was weak, and finally ranked 11th in the Premier League table, which is not too bad.
In the 2021-22 season, Aston Villa, who was in the ascendancy, beat Ronaldo's Manchester United 1-0 away in the sixth round, but then suffered a five-game losing streak in the league. Dean Smith stepped down and Liverpool star Gerrard became as the new manager of Aston Villa.
After Gerrard took office, Aston Villa quickly stopped the decline, losing all against the Premier League BIG6, but winning against teams outside the BIG6. In the 21st round, Aston Villa lost 2-1 away to Brentford, and Gerrard lost for the first time to a team outside big6, suffering two consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
Aston Villa, currently with 22 points from 19-7 wins, 1 draw and 11 defeats, is 14th in the Premier League table and should not be relegated this season, but it is unlikely to qualify for European competition.
Manchester United, who has a lot of stars in the squad, the overall strength of the squad is not inferior to Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, etc., but this season's results are far from meeting expectations. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired due to a poor Premier League record, replaced by Lonnick, who was soon beaten back to his original form. After losing 1-0 at home to Wolves in the 21st round, United's prospects for a four-place race are not optimistic.
In the current Premier League table, Manchester United ranks seventh with 31 points in 19 wins, 9 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses, 6 points behind fourth-place West Ham United, but Manchester United is two rounds behind West Ham United, and Manchester United competes for the fourth two major competitors, Arsenal ranks fifth with 35 points in 20 games, and Tottenham Hotspur ranks sixth with 33 points in 18 games.
This round of Tottenham Andttenham and Arsenal will catch the right bump, which is a good opportunity for Manchester United, but only if they have to get 3 points from Villa first.
Aston Villa have won 4, drawn 0 and lost 6 of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
United have won 6, drawn 3 and lost 1 of their last 10 games in all competitions.
In the last 10 meetings between the two sides, Aston Villa are at a disadvantage with 2 wins, 1 draw and 7 defeats.
In the first leg of the Premier League this season, Villa beat Manchester United 1-0 away. The most recent meeting between the two sides was in the third round of the FA Cup, when Villa lost 1-0 away to Manchester United. Manchester United have won 1 win and 1 loss in two home games against Villa this season, the difference is only that there is C Ronaldo, no C Ronaldo, there is C Ronaldo lost, no C Ronaldo won. But this time away to Villa, Lonnick should not dare to risk taking C Ronaldo. And let C Ronaldo start, Gerrard's opportunity may come.