
Manchester United held Aston Villa to a goalless draw at Villa Park. The result is not too shabby for Villains boss Unai Emery, who was happy to walk away with a point against the 20-time English top-flight champions.
The Villains came into the game reeling with confidence following their mid-week win over Bayern Munich but could not find a way beyond United.
Despite the draw, Chelsea’s slip-up against Nottingham Forest means Aston Villa and the Blues are still level on points. Emery’s side stays within touching distance of the coveted fourth place that the Blues occupy.
Club football takes another international break for the next two weeks, and it is good news for Villa as they can recover some of their injured stars. Emery is delighted with the reinforcement.
“It’s a nice moment to rest,” the former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain manager said (via the club’s website). “This week, we are going to work and recover some players.
“We are going to add Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings, which is very good news. Hopefully, some injured players can come back for the next match against Fulham.
“We will need players. Today, we were more or less with some players out, and we needed fresh players with good legs in the second half to help get our objective in this match.”
Besides Mings and Kamara, Emery hopes to have captain John McGinn back after he limped off with a knock in the second half of the win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Jacob Ramsey missed the Man United game, and it is unclear when he will be ready, but this break is a chance for him to recuperate. Amadou Onana also didn’t play the United game and will miss Belgium’s games. He needs this break to rest and recover.
With a fully fit squad, Villa are in a stronger position to pip Chelsea into that Champions League spot, which is the goal for the season.
