Prediction & odds for the game: Aston Villa (16/5) v Manchester United (4/5) – ST is backing the away win

When: Sunday, 9th May @ 2.05pm K.O

Where: Villa Park

Aston Villa and Manchester United will meet in the second city this weekend as the end of the Premier League season draws closer.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa may have tailed off in the race for Europe but one thing they’ve been pretty consistent with is their surge towards a top half finish. Right now they sit in 10th place and while some may not be happy with that given how they started the season, it’d be one hell of an accomplishment for Dean Smith when you consider their relegation battle at the end of the last campaign. They’ve still got a lot of work to do before becoming one of English football’s top sides, but they’re on their way.

Villa fought all the way back against local rivals West Bromwich Albion to earn a valuable draw and then against Everton, they picked up a nice 2-1 win to reiterate just how good they can be when they’re fully focused.

Manchester United

With the Europa League final to come and second place in the Premier League almost secured, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to be pleased with the direction of travel for this Manchester United side. Of course, many felt equally as confident last season about their chances heading into the new campaign, but they seem to be more settled now – and winning a piece of silverware certainly wouldn’t harm their chances.

Courtesy of the protests against the Glazers, United haven’t actually played in the Premier League since April 25. Their last two games both took place against Roma and after winning the first leg 6-2, they lost the second 3-2 with their place in the final being sealed on aggregate.

Conclusion

Both sides want to be assured of their end goal heading into the last few games of the season and because of that, we think we’re actually going to get quite a fun encounter here. Villa know how to break teams down but only if they’re operating at their very best, whereas United can beat just about anyone on their day. We think the hosts will take the lead but in standard Ole fashion, the visitors will come from behind and secure all three points.

Our official scoreline prediction is going to be 2-1 Manchester United, meaning we break the over 2.5 goals marker. It may not be at the top of the football priority list this weekend, but we still feel as if there’s a lot of potential within this enticing fixture.

Verdict: Back the away win at odds of 4/5 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 8/11 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Aston Villa vs Manchester United then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures on the soccer predictions page as the race to the finish in the Premier League continues.