Match Preview: Can Aston Villa hold off a resurgent Manchester United?

Click here to read full live match coverage of the Barclays Premier League game between Aston Villa and Manchester United Live on Saturday Nov. 13, 2010, kick-off 07:45 ET.

Manchester United travels to the Villa Park on Saturday to face Aston Villa in the English Premier League.

United come to the game on the back of a draw against cross-town rivals Manchester City during mid-week. Though it ended their six game winning streak (in all competitions), it was a valuable point claimed at the City of Manchester Stadium. The red devils will look to gain all three points at Villa Park, which is a stadium they generally do well in. They last tasted defeat there in August 1995.

United looked resolute in defence over the past weeks, as opposed to the early days of the season when they leaked late goals which cost them heavily. This improvement has much to do with the return of Rio Ferdinand, who has looked impressive so far. The Manchester club also seems to have got back the knack of scoring late goals which will calm the supporters, though they'd much rather finish off the games early.

United's striker Dimitar Berbatov has gone on an eight-game goal drought after starting the season in an explosive manner. He could break that drought against Villa as he will come up against Richard Dunne, who is a good defender but has a tendency to commit costly errors.

Aston Villa have adapted quite well to the season keeping in mind the problems they have been facing. They had their manager resign barely a week before the new season, and with injuries depleting half their side a mightier team would have struggled. Villa booked their first win since September during their midweek tie against a second-string Blackpool team with a late goal from James Collins giving them a 3-2 victory.

Villa's injury troubles this season required them to dig into their youth team. The promoted youngsters have performed admirably, especially Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan and Ciaran Clark. Consistency is the key to Villa and manager Gerard Houllier has done impressively since taking over the 'Villains'. Houllier also has five wins against United to his name, during his spell as manager of Liverpool. Their defence at home has also been impressive, with only Bolton breaking it so far this season.

Team news

United will miss Paul Scholes through suspension. Hargreaves, Owen, Rafael, Rooney and Valencia are all injured while Anderson, Gibson, Evra and Giggs are doubtful.

Villa's injury problems mean at least nine players will remain in the treatment room for this match. Carew, Cuellar, Delph, Heskey, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Sidwell and Weimann are all injured while Beye remains doubtful.

Table position

Villa's win against Blackpool meant they went up to 10^th in the table and is level on points with 6^th placed Bolton. A loss can drop them till 13^th while a win can shoot them into the top 5 (depending on other results).

United's draw during mid-week meant they couldn't maintain a 2 point difference with Chelsea. United are now four points behind in second place with Arsenal breathing down their necks on 23 - one point behind. A loss could see them drop till 4^th (depending on other results) while a win coupled with a Chelsea loss can cut the lead.

Prediction

Villa are unbeaten at home this season, but that could change with United's visit. The red devils will, however, find it difficult to break down the Villa defence, which has only been breached by Bolton in the Villa Park. They should also be wary of Villa's counters, especially Marc Albrighton whose pace can trouble O'shea. Man United have too much quality though, and there is only one result. A 2-1 win for United seems appropriate.

Click here to read full live match coverage of the Barclays Premier League game between Aston Villa and Manchester United Live on Saturday Nov. 13, 2010, kick-off 07:45 ET.