Aston Villa v Manchester United: Premier League – live!

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1.16pm BST

In the end, there’s no drastic reshuffle from Solskjær with four changes from Thursday’s game in Rome. Dean Henderson replaces David de Gea in goal, Victor Lindelöf comes back into the defence, while Scott The Scottish Player and Marcus Rashford replace Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani.

Villa go with the same XI that won at Goodison, despite a looming fixture pile-up of their own. Dean Smith’s side end the season with four games in 10 days, starting on Thursday with the return meeting with Everton.

1.09pm BST

Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Douglas Luiz, McGinn; Traoré, Barkley, El Ghazi; Watkins.
Subs: Heaton, Wesley, Nakamba, Elmohamady, Hause, Davis, Ramsey, Philogene-Bidace, Chukwuemeka.

Man Utd (4-2-3-1): Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw; The Scottish Player, Fred; Greenwood, Bruno Fernandes, Pogba; Rashford.
Subs: De Gea, Bailly, Cavani, Mata, Alex Telles, Matic, Williams, van de Beek, Tuanzebe.

1.00pm BST

Manchester United like playing at Villa Park. The last game they lost in B6 was in the 1999 Worthington Cup, when Ole Gunnar Solskjær was in the United team. You have to travel back another four years for their last league defeat in here, an opening-day embarrassment that led Alan Hansen to opine “you can’t win anything with kids”.

Solskjær might be tempted to test that theory today as United begin a run of three league games in five days. The manager is expected to at least rotate his team with home games against Leicester and Liverpool looming. Villa’s win at Goodison Park has arrested their end-of-season drift, and the hosts might fancy their chances of ending what is now a historic top-flight drought in a single fixture.

Defeat for United this afternoon would secure the title for Manchester City, while even a draw will leave the Reds needing snookers. In reality, United’s primary concerns are securing second place and keeping assorted hamstrings operational with a European final on the horizon. Another victory here would open a 12-point gap on fifth place, and make Champions League qualification a formality.

Of course, had you told Fergie back in 1995 that one day, almost 26 years in the future, United would field even a slightly weakened team at the risk of letting City win the title, he’d have fired up the hairdryer quicker than you can say European Super League. Modern football, bloody hell. Kick-off: 2.05pm, BST.

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