Villa Park
Saturday, 23 December
Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Coverage on the BBC Sport website, BBC Radio Five Live, and highlights on MOTD
Aston Villa's Gavin McCann will be given until the last minute to prove his recovery from a hamstring injury he picked up last weekend against Bolton.
Young midfielder Craig Gardner is standing by for his first start of the season in what is likely to be the only change to Martin O'Neill's side.
Premiership leaders Manchester United are set to name an unchanged team.
Defender Patrice Evra remains doubtful with a calf injury, while Alan Smith is still battling for full fitness.
606 DEBATE: Give your thoughts on this match
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Aston Villa (from): Kiraly, Olejnik, Mellberg, Hughes, Cahill, Ridgewell, Samuel, Bouma, Barry, Agbonlahor, Petrov, McCann, Gardner, Davis, Angel, Baros, Sutton, Agathe, Whittingham.
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, O'Shea, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze, Evra, Silvestre, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Richardson, Park, Rooney, Saha, Solskjaer.
- Aston Villa defender Gareth Barry:
"It gives us the chance to give the fans the perfect Christmas present.
"West Ham showed last week that United are not unbeatable, we'll have to be at our best and hope for a bit of luck along the way.
"We know it's a tough game, and our record against United hasn't been that good in recent years."
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BIG-MATCH FACTS
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ASTON VILLA and Manchester United meet at Villa Park in a dress rehearsal for next month's FA Cup third round tie at Old Trafford. Villa are on the equal longest current winless run in the Premiership of six matches, as they prepare to face the League leaders in the pre-Christmas fixture. They will not want to hand too many presents to United, as defeat could see the Midlanders slipping out of the top half of the table, following an impressive opening to the campaign.
This is set to be a fascinating tactical duel between two of the most successful managers in British football, Martin O'Neill and Sir Alex Ferguson, and pits this season's Premiership specialists against the most prolific winners. Villa have lost only one more match than United, but are 19 points worse off.
Villa have failed to beat Manchester United in 16 League and Cup matches, since a 3-0 triumph in the third round of the Worthington League Cup on 13 October 1999. Their last home Premiership victory over the Red Devils came on 19 August 1995. Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and a Dwight Yorke penalty were the scorers in a 3-1 success.
MANCHESTER UNITED have the chance to re-establish a five point lead at the summit, before second placed Chelsea take on Wigan in the teatime kick off at the JJB. United lost away to West Ham last time out, while the champions won at Everton. The Red Devils will need at least a point from another game against a club who play in claret and blue, to ensure they spend Christmas Day at the top of the tree. This match completes the first half of the season, and a victory would give United 47 points. Every club that has stood on at least 47 points after 19 games has gone on to win the title in the history of English top flight football (calculating three points for a win).
The Old Trafford club have not lost successive Premiership matches in 61 games, since Norwich and Everton beat them on 9 and 20 April 2005 respectively, both away. Their holiday programme comprises of home games against Wigan on Boxing Day and Reading on the following Saturday, and a New Years Day trip to Newcastle.
United have 'doubled' Villa in each of the last three seasons, and are vying for an eighth successive Premiership victory over them. They've kept clean sheets in winning the last four League trips to Villa Park, and have not lost home or away to the Midlanders in a club record 21 meetings (15 wins, six draws). Their longest undefeated away streak against a single opponent is 11 matches (West Ham). That record was broken last Sunday. Should the table toppers avoid defeat against Villa, they would equal that record. Should they win, it would be United's eighth successive victory at the Villa Park ground (four Premiership trips, FA Cup third round ties in 2002 and 2004 and an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal in 2004).
REFEREE
Steve Bennett (Orpington, Kent)
SEQUENCES/RECENT FORM
ASTON VILLA
Club stats
Fixtures
9th 25 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 7th
Lowest could fall: 13th
1. Lost ther most recent fixture, 0-1, as have Manchester United.
2. Picked up four points out of a last available 18, since beating Everton 0-1 at Goodison Park on 11 November.
3. Middlesbrough and Watford are also on six-match winless Premiership sequences - along with Villa.
4. Picked up eight Premiership points from losing positions, that's more than any other club with the exception of Arsenal, who've also gained eight points from losing positions. Villa won home to Reading, drew home to Spurs and Middlesbrough and away to Chelsea, Portsmouth and Sheffield United.
5. Drawn an unrivalled 168 Premiership games all time - 10 this season.
6. Failed to score in three top tier encounters this term - the goalless draws at Watford and Wigan, and the 0-1 home defeat to Bolton last time out.
7. Recorded just one win in six home League games (2-0 v Blackburn on 5 November).
8. Used more players than any other club in Premiership matches this season, with the exception of Sheffield United - both have fielded 26.
9. Been awarded more penalties than any other club in Premiership matches this season. Converted five of their six spot kicks.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Club stats
Fixtures
1st 44 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 1st
Lowest could fall: 2nd
1. Won 14 Premiership matches to Aston Villa's five, and won three more away than Villa have managed at home (seven to four).
2. Defeat to West Ham last Sunday ended a four-match winning streak in all competitions, and a 12-match unbeaten sequence in the top flight.
3. Won 14 of the last 19 League and Cup encounters.
4. Won more Premiership games than any other club this season (14), dropped fewest points (10), lost two (as have Chelsea), scored more goals (38) and conceded fewer (10) than anybody else.
5. Scored one goal every 43 minutes of Premiership football played on average, and conceded one every 162 minutes (two hours 42 minutes). Not conceded more than a single goal in any League game this term, and kept clean sheets in five of the last 10.
6. Holding the highest aggregate in the top tier of 48 goals (38 for, 10 against).
7. Failed to score in two top tier games this season (the 0-1 reverses, home to the Gunners on 17 September, and away to West Ham on 17 December), and holding a 100% record when keeping a clean sheet (won eight of eight).
8. Scored more goals in the first quarter (22 minutes) of top flight games than any other club (12), and more in the last 10 minutes (six). Trailed at half time in only one game.
9. Need to score once to bring the club's total of Premier League goals away from home all-time to 500, and one goal shy of conceding 500 in their Premier League history (home and away).
10. Boast the joint highest number of different scorers in the Premiership. Both the Red Devils and Tottenham have 12 names on their League scorers sheets.
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KEY PLAYER NOTES/POTENTIAL MILESTONES
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ASTON VILLA
Squad profiles
Juan Pablo ANGEL and Gareth BARRY are Villa's top scorers, with seven goals each. Five of Barry's have come from the penalty spot.
BARRY is the club's top Premiership marksman with six.
If he plays, ANGEL will be making his 200th appearance for Villa.
Gabriel AGBONLAHOR and Olof MELLBERG have been on the field for every minute of every one of Villa's Premiership fixtures.
This match provides the opportunity of an "old boys' reunion" for Eric DJEMBA-DJEMBA.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Squad profiles
Louis SAHA is United's leading scorer with 12 League and Cup goals.
SAHA and Wayne ROONEY are the club's joint top marksmen in the Premiership with eight each.
Rio FERDINAND is the only player to have been on the field for every minute of every one of United's Premiership matches this season.
If he plays, Wes BROWN will be making his 150th Premiership appearance - all for United.
If he figures, Ji-Sung PARK will be making his 50th appearance in a United shirt.
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LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
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Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester United
17 December 2005 - Ref: Mike Dean
Man United scorers: van Nistelrooy 10, Rooney 51
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
Home and away
League: Villa 42 wins, Man United 70, Draws 34
Prem: Villa 2 wins, Man United 19, Draws 7
at Villa only
League: Villa 32 wins, Man United 23, Draws 18
Prem: Villa 2 wins, Man United 9, Draws 3
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Source: http://bbc.co.uk
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