Can Aston Villa’s new signings Coutinho and Digne frustrate Manchester United or will Ronaldo step up to provide another moment of magic?

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Aston Villa host Manchester United as Villa boss Steven Gerrard looks to continue his excellent start to life in the West Midlands and faces a former foe with two exciting new January additions set for their debuts.

Villa’s lacklustre start to this Premier League season took an upwards trajectory when they poached Gerrard from Rangers in November.

Since then, the 41-year-old has injected inspiration into the Villains’ veins and has steered them away from sleepwalking into a relegation battle to setting their sights on a top-half finish.

After the final whistle of their latest Premier League outing on January 2nd, as the Birmingham side were stung against Brentford, Villa have made two exciting transfers.

First through the door in B6 was Philippe Coutinho, initially on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season, with the option to buy this summer as the Brazilian playmaker looks to get regular game time after a frustrating spell with the Spanish giants.

Coutinho, now 29, lit up the Premier League for Liverpool before making the £105 million move to Barcelona in this exact window four years ago. Since then, he has spent time out on loan at Bayern Munich in 2019/20, scoring eight goals in 23 games.

French left-back Lucas Digne was the next incoming as he bid farewell to fellow Premier League side, Everton. The 28-year-old made the £25 million move to Villa, again to seek regular game time, after he was cast out of favour by Toffees’ boss Rafa Benitez.

Villa come into this game winning just one of their last five games in all competitions having beaten Norwich City before Christmas.

Three games of their previous five have come against the ‘big six’ sides, which included a 1-0 away defeat to Liverpool, a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea last time out at Villa Park as well as Monday’s FA Cup exit against this weekend’s opponents, Manchester United.

Ahead of Saturday’s clash, Gerrard spoke about how his side can ‘bounce back’ from Monday’s disappointing defeat at Old Trafford.

“The only frustration I had the other night is we didn’t progress in the FA Cup, which is important to us.

“The only way to get the feeling and the mood back that I want is to get a big result tomorrow [Saturday]. It’s a unique situation, playing the same team twice in a short space of time, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to bounce back.

“If we can find a similar level of performance, be a little bit more ruthless in the final third and the big calls on the night go in our favour, I’ve got no doubt we can get the result we want.

“We know the quality and the level of player that’s coming to Villa Park and the challenge ahead of us. We’ll be respectful of that, but the players should take big belief and confidence that when they’re at their best, we can create problems for Manchester United.”

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United come into this tie winning three of their last five games in all competitions, however, frustrating results to Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the festive period has left Ralf Rangnick already see fans turning on him just over a month since his arrival at Old Trafford.

When asked in his press conference how Monday’s FA Cup clash would affect his preparation for the tie, United boss Ralf Rangnick said his side need to give the ‘best possible performance’ this weekend.

“We know from experience what the challenge will be and how they are playing. We also know that we were able in a tough, a tight game, to beat them.

“Now it’s about showing the best possible performance, bringing the best possible players and best performance on the pitch in order to win the game at Villa Park.”

During the week, Cristiano Ronaldo exclaimed his frustration to Sky Sports on what has been a disappointing homecoming season so far.

“I don’t accept that our mentality being less than being in the top three in the Premier League,” said United’s number seven.

“I think to build good things, sometimes you have to destroy a few things. So why not – new year, new life and I hope that Manchester [United] can be the level that the fans want. They deserve that.

“We are capable of changing things now. I know the way but I’m not going to mention it here because I don’t think it’s ethical on my part to say that.

“What I can say is we can do better – all of us. Manchester [United] belongs to important things, so we have to change that.

“I don’t want to be here to be in sixth place, or seventh place, or fifth place. I’m here to try to win, to compete.

“I think we compete, but we are not yet in our best level. But we have a long way to improve and I believe if we change our mind, we can achieve big things.”

Team News

Villa will be without the suspended midfield maestro John McGinn as well as Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet who are away at the African Cup of Nations.

Marvelous Nakamba is out with a knee injury and Leon Bailey is set to be sidelined with a thigh injury.

Youngster Jaden Philogene-Bidace will return to training on Monday after tightness in his pelvis area, which was revealed by Gerrard in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

Former United man Ashley Young is also a doubt after picking up a toe injury in December.

The big injury news heading into this fixture is that of United’s number seven. It is unclear whether Ronaldo will start against the Villains, however, Rangnick remains optimistic that his star man will feature.

“I think they will be available,” said Rangnick on Ronaldo, Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho – the England internationals are both doubts for the fixture.

“They only trained yesterday [Thursday] for the first time. Cristiano yesterday, Harry the day before yesterday.

“We have to wait for the final session this afternoon but as it seems right now, they should be available for tomorrow [Saturday].”

Both Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay are suspended, meanwhile, Amad Diallo, Eric Bailly and Hannibal Mejbri are all away at the African Cup of Nations.

Paul Pogba is ruled out with a hip injury and Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot are also expected to miss out through respective knocks.

Head-to-Head

Monday’s 1-0 FA Cup triumph for United was the most recent meeting between the sides with McTominay’s early goal enough to send the Red Devils through to Round Four.

The two sides have faced off on 192 occasions with United, known as Newton Heath in meetings before the 20th century, winning 102, Villa winning on 50 occasions with the remaining 40 ending in a stalemate since the sides’ first meeting in 1892.

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