The Premier League season has reached the business end and in game-week 34, Aston Villa hosted Manchester United. A draw for Bournemouth earlier in the day against Tottenham Hotspur meant that Aston Villa would find themselves in 19th should they lose. Manchester United, on the other hand, were in dominant form having won their last three fixtures by margins of three goals. United were chasing down a Champions League spot and a win would see them move one point behind Leicester in fourth and two points behind Chelsea in third. In this tactical analysis, we will look at the tactics of both these teams over the course of the game.
Lineups
We shall begin our analysis by looking at the lineups of both sides.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær named an unchanged side for the fourth game in a row despite the hectic fixture list. The Norwegian certainly did not seem to want to change what was turning out to be a winning formula for Manchester United, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba forming an incredible partnership in midfield. Nemanja Matić has also regained his fine form and completed the midfield. The front three of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood have been impressive this season, having over 50 goals among the three of them. The defence has also found its feet after a rocky start to the season, with Aaron Wan-Bisakka being the pick of them.
Dean Smith made just one change to the side that faced Liverpool earlier in the week, with Mbwana Samatta replacing Keinan Davis. Although Aston Villa had lost 2-0 to the champions, Smith would have been pleased with the way his side managed to hold them for about 70 minutes of the game. Smith looked to play a 4-4-1-1 formation, with star man Jack Grealish playing behind the striker. Aston Villa have been known to shift this formation to a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 as well and this will be something to look out for in our tactical analysis. Smith had been clear that he was looking to thwart the threat of Fernandes and Douglas Luiz and John McGinn had their work cut out in the midfield. Villa did not have the best defence in the league but the likes of Tyrone Mings and Kourtney Hause would have to put in good performances in order to push for a win.
