At 1:30 p.m. local time on April 17, Manchester United welcomed their opponent Aston Villa in the 34th round of the Premier League.

Although this is a clear clash of strengths and weaknesses, it is also the focus of this round.

Because if Villa lose in this game, 15 points behind fourth-bottom Norwich City with four league games remaining, the centennial club will be relegated four rounds earlier.

It would be a humiliating moment for Aston Villa, almost the club's darkest moment since its founding in 1874!

Last season, Aston Villa's record was not good, with only 10 wins, 8 draws and 20 losses in 38 league rounds, ranking fourth from the bottom with 38 points, only 3 points more than the relegation zone, and narrowly avoiding relegation.

Last summer, instead of strengthening the squad, Aston Villa, who had a poor record, sold their main striker Benteke for £32.5 million, so they were regarded by Fleet Street as the biggest favourites for relegation in the Premier League!

Aston Villa proved to be truly vulnerable, becoming a bullied force in English football, after beating Bournemouth 1-0 away in the Premier League opener, they went 19 games without a win, during which they suffered seven consecutive defeats and sat bottom of the table for a long time.

Going into 2016, Aston Villa's record has not improved, and after losing 6-0 at home to Liverpool, Birmingham's team suffered another eight consecutive defeats!

At the end of the 33rd round of the Premier League, Aston Villa only won 3 wins, 7 draws and 23 losses, and only got a pitiful 16 points, 15 points behind Norwich, who are in fourth from bottom.

Aston Villa's poor record has led to serious protests from the club, with fans waving white handkerchiefs representing surrender in the stands of the 2-1 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth last time out.

………………

Don't look at the current Vera down, but its ancestors have also been arrogant. Although not as successful as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, Villa have always been a force to be reckoned with in English football: since the Premier League was founded in 1992, only seven teams have played in all 24 seasons, including Aston Villa, the remaining six are Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton, and if Villa lose today, there will be six teams that hold that record next season.

In the history of English football, only three teams have played in the top flight for more than 100 years, in addition to Aston Villa in 105, Everton in 113 and Liverpool in 101. At this point, the Premier League hegemons Manchester United can't compare.

Therefore, compared with the upstarts of Chelsea and Manchester City, Aston Villa is more like a traditional giant, in addition to being the best in English football in the number of times they have played in the top league, and the honors they have won are also the envy of countless clubs.

Aston Villa have won the English top flight seven times since their inception, ranking fifth behind Manchester United (20), Liverpool (18), Arsenal (13) and Everton (nine). Seven FA Cup titles, behind Arsenal (12), Manchester United (11) and Tottenham (eight), and joint fourth with Liverpool and Chelsea; In addition, Aston Villa have won the Community Shield once.

In addition, Aston Villa has also achieved glory in the European arena, in the 1982 Champions League final, the team defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 to win the Big Ears Cup, and is one of only five teams in English football to have won the Champions League trophy, which is incomparable to Arsenal and Manchester City; Aston Villa have also won one UEFA Super Cup and two UEFA Toto Cups.

………………

Many sympathetic to the underdogs, or those with feelings, hope that Villa can pull off a miracle today, beating the mighty Manchester United and keeping their hopes of relegation alive, albeit remotely.

However, as an opponent, Manchester United will never allow such a thing to happen, because they are at a critical time in the fight for a Champions League place, and if a fish belly like Villa can't win it, then what will they do to fight for the fourth?

Not to mention the current difference in strength, even if you look at the historical record, Manchester United has no reason to lose.

Manchester United have won 10 and drawn three of their last 13 meetings with Villa, losing just one of the last 38 meetings between the two sides, and winning 31 and drawing six of the remaining 37 games. The two sides have met 47 Premier League games, with Manchester United holding the upper hand with 33 wins, 11 draws and 3 defeats, including 18 wins, 4 draws and 1 defeat at home. This is the 186th meeting between the two sides, with United holding the advantage of 97 wins, 39 draws and 49 defeats.

It can be said that compared to Tottenham, Villa is more like Manchester United is a point boy.

Since Villa are doomed to relegation this season, it is better to contribute to Manchester United at this last minute and deliver the crucial three points.

In this game, although Manchester United still continued to play the 4231 formation, the personnel had changed greatly compared with midweek. David De Gea returned to the starting line-up unchanged from midweek, mainly with no one to change, with Blind partnering Chris Smalling at centre-back, with Marcos Rojo and Valencia on either side. The back two are Marouane Fellaini and Schneiderlin, with Wayne Rooney in the middle, Depay and Juan Mata on the left and right, and Marcus Rashford as the single arrow.

Despite Rooney's poor midweek performance, Louis van Gaal chose to trust the team's captain.

After all, Rooney's status in the Manchester United team dictates that Van Gaal cannot put him on the bench when he is healthy.

Anthony Martial, who has been starting since recovering from injury, was on the bench in this game.

………………

After the start of the game, Rashford quickly discovered the reason why Villa have become the worst defensive team and the bottom of the points this season, because for such a dangerous figure, Villa did not even send a special person to mark, making him look very relaxed in the frontcourt.

Rashford decided that since Villa was so polite to him, he would give them a happy one today, after all, he would die early and be born sooner.

However, Rashford was depressed to find that his teammates did not think the same way as him, and did not launch a strong attack immediately after the opening, but more tentatively.

Rashford is unable to do it alone, even if Villa is the vice-captain, but after all, it is a Premier League team, and he can't do it on his own.

In the 7th minute of the game, Manchester United finally had a chance. Valencia broke down the right and sent in a cross, but instead of Rashford, it was on the back post. Depay couldn't get his hands on the ball and the ball was headed off the line by a Villa defender and United won a corner.

United opted for a tactical corner and Schneiderling played the ball to Mata, who slowly dribbled the ball and looked for an opportunity to draw the attention of the Villa defenders and make it clear that Schneiderlin was not offside.

Schneiderlin went down and when he tried to cross, the ball was again blocked by the Villa players. I want to talk about "The British Emperor" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~