A crucial game beckons in the Premier League with Aston Villa hosting Manchester United on Sunday.
Unai Emery's Villa go into the game as big favourites on the strength of a tremendous run of form that's seen them win 10 of their last 11 league games, and nine in a row across all competitions They are also unbeaten in nine straight home games, which has propelled them to third spot in the league behind Arsenal and Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Manchester United go into the match after a wild 4-4 draw against Bournemouth and will be missing some of their important starters due to Africa Cup if Nations commitments, suspension and injuries. No doubt it's going to be a tough match for Ruben Amorim's team who are placed sixth in the table.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK, NBC in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Sunday, Dec. 21 at 4:30 p.m. GMT (1:30 p.m. ET; 10 p.m. IST and 2:30 a.m. AEST, Monday)
Venue: Villa Park
Referee: Michael Oliver
VAR: Peter Bankes
Are Aston Villa genuine title contenders?
Villa sit just three points behind league leaders Arsenal and if results go their way this weekend, they will be second after playing 17 matches. There's a long way to go but ESPN's Sam Tighe this week shed some light on how genuine their title hopes are.
Villa are massively overperforming their xG stats, in fact, the Premier League xG table have them in 16th place while the top two are the actual leaders Arsenal and Manchester City. There is also the fact that eight of their last 10 wins have been by just a single goal.
While Villa have so far done remarkably well balancing Thursday Europa League commitments with weekend Premier League action, it's too hard to sustain it in the long term. Arsenal and Manchester City have been there in the past and have the depth to go deep in both the tournaments.
But stranger things have happened and if both Arsenal and Manchester City slip up, Villa look primed to take advantage.
Who holds the key for Aston Villa?
The simple answer is Morgan Rogers. The midfielder's return to form has been one of the major reasons behind Villa's incredible run. Rogers, like the Villa team, struggled in the first five matches. It was hard to pinpoint what went wrong with a player who only last season won the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Maybe it was a preseason ankle injury that slowed him down in the early stages of the season.
It was only a matter of time before Rogers got back to his best. He found his drive and energy that made him so lethal last season -- he scored five times in the league and has three assists to his name. Only last week, he inspired a remarkable turnaround against West Ham United, where he netted twice, including a stunning long-range winner.
Manchester United offered plenty of space in the middle to Bournemouth and if they do that again with Villa, who have a solid midfield featuring Rogers in the most advanced role, they will find it extremely hard to pull off a positive result.
How will Manchester United cope with key players missing?
Man United will miss important players Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui due to AFCON duties while Casemiro is suspended. The absence of Diallo and Mbeumo means serious pressure on Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha to do the heavy lifting in the attack. Diallo and Mbeumo have played almost all the matches for their team with the latter being their highest goalscorer with six strikes so far.
Mazraoui had his troubles with injury this season but his absence will be keenly felt with the likes of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt also sidelined.
The absence of players further forward could help the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Joshua Zirkzee and Benjamin Sesko get regular minutes. Sesko might not start the game as he's just back from an injury, though Zirkzee has a good chance to start.
Will Mainoo finally get an extended run of games?
It's not only the attack, but also the midfield that will be a big concern for Amorim given the absence of the experienced Casemiro.
In terms of personnel, a straight replacement for Casemiro would be Manuel Ugarte but it will be crucial to see who starts next to him. Now that there's no Mbeumo, Amorim will have to decide whether to move Fernandes as one of his two No. 10s or stick with him as No. 8. If Fernandes is moved up, it could bring in Kobbie Mainoo to his favoured position behind the 10s.
It's no secret that Mainoo has struggled to find a spot in the starting XI under Amorim and there has been talk of him leaving the club. But now that places have freed up, he could get decent number of chances to make an impact.
Regardless of who plays where, Man United must avoid repeating the same midfield mistakes they made against Bournemouth.
What's with Fernandes' comments?
It is usually Man United manager Amorim who makes a little bit of a noise with his comments in various interviews and news conferences but this time, it's the club captain's comments that have made the headlines.
In an interview with Canal 11, a media outlet owned by the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernandes said he was hurt by the club's readiness to offload him in the summer. He also spoke with Man United legend Rio Ferdinand and compared his loyalty to the club with that of Francesco Totti's time at Roma.
Did the timing of the comments upset Amorim who is preparing his team for a crucial game? Amorim played down their impact by praising his captain for leading by example and left it to Fernandes to explain the reasons behind his sentiments.
Nevertheless, there's little doubt that Fernandes is the best player in this team. If he had left the club in the summer or before, things could've been even worse for Manchester United.