(Football news) Manchester United are 12 time winners of the FA Cup with their most recent win coming in 2016 in Louis Van Gaal’s last match in-charge while Aston Villa have won the competition on seven occasions, the last time being in 1957. For Ralf Rangnick, this is the only chance of silverware this season but more importantly, it is an opportunity to get back to winning ways after losing to Wolves 1-0. Various media reports have suggested an unhappy dressing room as the fringe players have been disgruntled by their lack of playing time while the ones who have played have struggled to adapt to Rangnick’s coaching methods. It will be interesting to see what sort of reaction the 20 times English champions have against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

The preparations for this fixture are important for the two sides as they will not only face each other in the FA Cup but also in the Premier League on January 15th. For Manchester United, they will also take on Brentford and West Ham United on January 19th and 22nd respectively and Rangnick will look to dig deep into his squad to ensure his players are fresh for the run of fixtures ahead. Aston Villa are not in the best of form as they were defeated by Chelsea and Brentford in the Premier League, leaving them in 13th place with 22 points. However, they are looking to turn their season around by making a few marquee signings in the January transfer window with Philippe Coutinho being their latest addition to the squad but the Brazilian is unlikely to make his debut in the FA Cup fixture.

Aston Villa have already defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford this season and there is no reason why a repeat of that result cannot happen again. However, Manchester United are an opponent who should never be underestimated, especially at Old Trafford and they have defeated Aston Villa 14 times in their last 19 meetings in all competitions. Ralf Rangnick will have Paul Pogba and Harry Maguire are unavailable for selection due to injuries while Anthony Martial is unlikely to feature due to ambiguity regarding his status at the club. Eric Bailly is also absent since he is featuring for Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations but Victor Lindelof has recovered from COVID-19 and might feature in the starting XI. Phil Jones could make another appearance in the center of defense after having a decent performance against Wolves.

Rangnick has promised to start with a strong team against Aston Villa and is expected to select Dean Henderson in goal as well as Diogo Dalot, Fred, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. It’s likely that Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay will also feature in the starting XI as the pair are suspended for the weekend’s Premier League match. For Aston Villa, Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings are available for selection while Kortney Hause is expected to be fit. Marvelous Nakamba and Leon Bailey are unavailable due to injury while Ashley Young is a doubt against his former side. Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore are participating at the African Cup of Nations and won’t be available as Gerrard might go with a front three of Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Watkins.

Also read: FA Cup: Nottingham Forest knockout Arsenal while Liverpool progress