Aston Villa 0-1 Man United – Premier League: Live score, team news and updates as Rasmus Hojlund grabs the opener for Erik ten Hag’s men

Plenty of admiration coming in for Rasmus Hojlund, who is on a hot streak for Manchester United. The man who previously couldn’t hit a barn door is, for now, the veritable master of barn doors.

One fan, though, suggested his goal in the first half was just a simple tap-in and nothing more. Thoughts? Are United fans getting too excited?

It was a quiet January transfer window, wasn’t it?

Nathan Salt has moved up from our London office to complement the team covering Manchester United.

Go give him some love and follow him on X. Do you agree with his opinion on how United built their first goal?

Kobbie Mainoo is on the naughty step after bowling into McGinn as Villa tried to counter. Probably needed to do it and few complaints.

Lenglet booked as well, perhaps for dissent.

Alex Moreno tried buying a penalty there as he went down under the moderate pressure from Dalot.

The Villa circus was right behind their left-back with vehement protests but he had little chance with that one – not even if one of his mates was the referee! There was contact, but not enough.

A wayward free-kick fro John McGinn almost goes in!

His left-footed in-swinger flew nowhere near anybody but did almost sink in at the near post, with Onana scrambling to save. He should have easily collected the effort but fumbled and gave away a corner.

Fernandes is getting a stern telling off after sliding in and taking out Bailey on the right flank.

The winger had four men around him and Fernandes was to one to snap at his prancing heels.

Lucky to not be booked, there.

Even though play has moved on, Maguire has still been jabbering in the referee’s ear about the Casemiro booking.

Mainoo tried to catch Villa out with an early ball over the top to Hojlund, but he gives away possession and Villa come back at the other end.

McGinn almost slalomed his way through the morass of bodies in the box but the ball escaped is control and eventually it ends up in the loving, relieved hands of Onana.

Casemiro is the first to go in Robert Jones’ book after hardly touching cash at all, but the right-back threw himself to the ground. He was moving at pace, so the slightest touch can affect you, in fairness.

It’s been quite a bloodthirsty game, this. Lots of crunching tackles but that wasn’t one of them – Casemiro could have applied more force by just blowing at the back of him, such was the weakness of the contact.

Really inventive stuff from Villa. Watkins, Ramsey, douglaz Luiz, and Bailey all combined as they strung together a pass-and-move attack down the left, but the final ball was overhit.

This is like chalk and cheese comparing them before and after the goal, but really good cheese.

Bailey looked like he was crossing a beach ball there as his effort from the right ballooned well over and nearly ended up near the opposite corner flag.

Villa look really refreshed since conceding. Perhaps if they concede another they’ll become like Man City!

Ramsey could have had a foul on the edge of the area after contact from Mainoo but nothing was given. Boos ring out.

Alex Moreno fed Ramsey the ball inside the area and he jinked to the right, but his curled shot rushed past the post and meant Onana didn’t have to work any harder.

A great stat for you – since United’s goal, Villa have had 80 per cent of the ball… though that will literaly be changing as I type! Some way to respond.

Onana is down after a collision with Watkins.

He did so well to close down Watkins as he bore down on goal and smothered his shot well, but he looks dazed after they smashed into each other.

Herculean hands from Onana!

John McGinn unleashed a red-hot shot from outside the area but United’s ‘keeper saves. Didn’t have to move much but he did have to have hands made of brick to bounce that out.

Villa have finally had their firts corner (United have had four so far) but Varane rose above the crowd to powerfully head away Douglaz Luiz’s inswinger.

Villa have some renewed impetus now. Jacob Ramsey tried a shot from range but it had some turbo engines attached and whizzed high and wide.

Hojlund scuffles it in after Maguire beats Kamara to the header from the corner!

He’s slowly merging into Haaland, this Hojlund fella. Five matches on the spn he’s scored now, and the way he found space in a packed box there was reminiscent of his rival across the city.

Be first to the second ball. Hojlund was, and he was rewarded handsomely. Instinctive and predatory.

It’s going to be death by set-pieces at this rate for Villa. They need to deal with them much better.

Garnacho, United’s whippersnapper on the right, nearly produced a moment of greatness there.

Dancing in from the flank, he unleashed a flying shot from 30 yards out and it almost went the right side of the post just by force of inevitability. But it wasn’t to be.

Maguire heads over a corner and that could have easily been a goal.

Why is Kamara being asked to mark him? Doesn’t seem the most physically equitable solution to defending a corner from Aston Villa!

Villa have been under the cosh for a few minutes, now – Hojlund just had a big chance there but Diego Carlos slid in to divert his shot over.

Unai emery celebrates his 100th game as a Premier League manager today.

It was nearly off to a bad staet, there – Rashford blistered through the midfield unchallenged and found Garnacho to his right, but his ball across goal for Hojlund was turned away for a corner by Diego Carlos.

Cash tried scooping a long ball over the top to Watkins, but Varane tracked the flight of the ball well and headed away.

United countered as Fernandes played Hojlund in behind, but he timed his run poorly and offside was given.

Villa have marginally had the best of it so far.

Villa looked troublesome there, first breaking down the left through Ramsey and then trying their luck down the right.

Matty Cash gave away a foul on the right flank to end what was an encouraging attack.

Manchester United, draped in white, get us underway, and within eight seconds the ball is at the feet of Onana. Looks like a slow-patient build from the Red Devils, but then Maguire takes a long punt forward and loses the ball.

The players have emerged from Aston Villa’s remarkably spacious tunnel and meet the din of Villa Park, fireworks, chanting, blowing steam, all of it.

I heard there was some thing called the Super Bowl scheduled for Las Vegas today, but this is much better, right?

The players are back inside now, but here are some shots of their final warm-up preparations. Safe hands from Andre Onana!

Unai Emery and Erik ten Hag spoke to Sky Sports before the game.

Emery insisted his team have to get in the right mindset for eveyr match.

He said: ‘The message is keep going. Try to be focused, demanding, respectful of the opponent in everyting. Trying to play our best performance.’

‘We are trying to be consistent. You have to face teams that compete for the top five, top seven, top four.’

Meanwhile, Ten Hag’s stance was that this is a must-win game for their top four ambitions – but he was evasive over why he picked Varane above others.

He said: ‘We have to catch up. We know the position where we are – we got ourself in this position. Today has become a new step.

‘If we want to be in the top four, we have to win this game.

‘There are more players who can play left centre-half. What helps is Luke Shaw is back. Now we have our options we can look game to game.

‘Varane and Maguire, very strong, very expeirenced. We are quite confident.’

Today’s trip to Villa Park is ‘another final’, Erik ten Hag has claimed.

Don’t be expecting any trophies if you win this one, Erik!

His sentiment is right, though. Nine games separate United from the top four – losing to Villa today would see that become an 11-point gap as they will overtake Spurs.

It’s a first start of 2024 in the Premier League for Jacob Ramsey.

A foot injury has majorly disrupted his campaign and he only managed to start a league game for the first time this season in December.

Welcome back, Jacob. He’ll get a good reception today.

It’s full time over at the London Stadium, where Arsenal have trounced West Ham 6-0. Of course Declan Rice had to score on his return.

Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo will be running the midfield today for Manchester United.

Ahead of the clash, Erik ten Hag has spoken of their blossoming relationship – and how Mainoo, 18, is learning from one of the best midfielders of this generation.

This afternoon marks a special occasion. It will be Unai Emery’s 100th Premier League game. He will be hoping to secure all three points to make it a day to remember.

The Spaniard inherited a side languishing close to the relegation zone just under 15 months ago, but as it stands, they are in strong contention to claim a top four finish.

They have claimed 85 Premier League points across 2023, more than double their tally in the previous calendar year. So, it’s going pretty well so far!

My concern and analysis of them is trying to understand their gameplan and to understand their qualities, collectively and individually. We have to try to stop them, starting with the goalkeeper because his build up is fantastic.

Their centre-backs like to play, building up and controlling ball possession, trying to get good combinations on the pitch. Luke Shaw is very dangerous and Diogo Dalot is in a good moment.

Casemiro is a very important player for them; they have very good wingers and strikers and that is my concern. The most important thing for me, individually and collectively, as a coach is to prepare trying to stop them.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Alex Moreno, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Ramsey, McGinn, Watkins.

Subs: Tielemans, Digne, Torres, Diaby, Zaniolo, Olsen, Rogers, Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam.

Man Utd: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Varane, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund.

Subs: Bayindir, Lindelof, Amrabat, Eriksen, Diallo, Antony, Evans, McTominay, Forson.

Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out for an extended period of time, while Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia are not fit to return yet.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a doubt for the game and Anthony Martial remains sidelined.

Aston Villa’s Deadline Day signing Joe Gauci is available for the squad after returning from the Asia Cup. Meanwhile, Lucas Digne and Pau Torres are said to be making good progress but Ezri Konsa and Jhon Duran remain out.

Well… it wasn’t Aston Villa night. They fell to a 3-2 Boxing Day defeat at Manchester United having held at two-goal advantage at the break.

Ollie Watkins, with 11 goals and 10 assists, is the first player to reach double figures for both in any of Europe’s top five leagues this season.

He’s also the first Villa player to achieve this in a top-flight campaign since Dwight Yorke in 1995-96. Not bad, eh?

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has scored a goal on all three of his visits to Villa Park and has seven goals in total in this fixture home and away.

Could Rasmus Hojlund be the secret to Manchester United’s success going forwards? He has now scored in five of United’s last six games in all competitions.

Villa have scored 49 Premier League goals this campaign, only two short of their total last season. They will be looking to surpass that tally this afternoon.

United’s win over West Ham has seen them put together a five-match unbeaten run. As a result, Erik ten Hag’s team have picked up 16 of their 38 points on the road this season – winning five, drawing one and losing five.

Manchester United should be feeling fresh for this afternoon’s fixture. They have had a full week to prepare for the game after a 3-0 victory against West Ham United last time out.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa are looking to bounce back suffering FA Cup disappointment in midweek. Chelsea progressed to round five with a 3-1 win in Wednesday’s replay, but Unai Emery is confident his men can walk away with a result in the Premier League this afternoon.

Manchester United are looking for a fourth consecutive victory over Aston Villa in all competitions, having come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the most recent meeting on Boxing Day.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Manchester United travel to Villa Park.

The Red Devils will be looking to reduce the eight point deficit between themselves in sixth place and Aston Villa who sit on 46 points in fourth.