Manchester United vs Aston Villa. Premier League.
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Watch match highlights shortly after full-time on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app
Friday 29 November 2019 17:15, UK
Team news, key stats and prediction ahead of Manchester United vs Aston Villa in the Premier League (kick-off 4.30pm on Sunday).
Scott McTominay is pushing to play against Aston Villa as Manchester United return to Premier League action on the back of the 6,000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan.
The 22-year-old missed the trip to Sheffield United with an ankle complaint and will be assessed ahead of Sunday - a match Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Paul Pogba will not be available for following an ankle injury of his own.
Luke Shaw, Lee Grant, Jesse Lingard and Axel Tuanzebe built fitness by playing 90 minutes as United lost 2-1 to Astana on Thursday, when the remainder of the senior squad stayed at home ahead of facing Villa.
Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Diogo Dalot continue to build fitness after injury.
Aston Villa defender Bjorn Engels is in contention to return to Premier League action at United.
Engels has been out of action since the start of November with a hip injury, but has trained all week and is available for selection after admitting he did not feel ready for Monday night's victory over Newcastle.
Midfielder Jota is also back in training after a hernia problem, but is short of match fitness, while striker Keinan Davis is due to resume jogging on Monday and is two to three weeks away from a return. Keeper Jed Steer (Achilles) is expected to be sidelined for four months.
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published shortly after full-time on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Aston Villa did not disappoint on Monday Night Football. I thought they were very controlled, but also clinical in a certain way when they had to be. It was a good sign that when they went in front, they did not go all-out attack and get all their players up. It was as if Dean Smith had said 'job done and shut up shop'.
This wasn't to be boring, it is simply a cleverness to tuck in and protect when needed, and then hit on the counter. There were a couple of little dangerous signs that Newcastle could have got back into it, but it was a promising performance for them.
If Man Utd do not see off Villa, and with games against Tottenham and Manchester City coming up, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could be in trouble and I think they should go for Brendan Rodgers too, along with Arsenal.
Mauricio Pochettino is floating everyone's boat, but if you look at the real situation of how it has developed, then Rodgers is a better fit for both of those teams than Pochettino is, because he knows how to win trophies. He won nine domestic titles at Celtic and it might be a lot easier there but he knows how to do it. It is not a case of being insecure, Rodgers has his beliefs and strengths and goes and does it. I would be amazed if Manchester United were not interested in him.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-0 (13/2 with Sky Bet)
Marcus Rashford (£10.8m) has hit four goals in his last five matches, racking up 44 points in that spell. Five of his seven Premier League goals this year have come at home. Could he be set to extend that?
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