Evening all, and welcome to Aston Villa v Manchester United!

To have played so little so far is very tough on Fred and McTominay, who've both been good this season. Obviously neither can be picked ahead of Pogba, but both are quicker and more energetic than Matic. But Solskjaer obviously likes Matic's experience and ability to stay in the same place and, in fairness, he's played well this calendar year.

Looks like there've been a lot of haircuts here.

Elsewhere, it's Everton 1-1 Southampton, the goals scored by Ings and Richarlison - two of the best strikers outside the top six.

The goal is chalked off, but it's a silly law, that - King knew nothing about it, the handball was accidental in the not deliberate sense and in the ball to hand sense.

Follow it here...

Elsewhere, Bournemouth have just scored against Spurs! Or have they? Did Wilson's overhead kick hit King's arm?!

Villa, though, have the players to hurt a United defence that isn't as good as six goals conceded in 15 games suggests. They lack pace in the middle of their defence, Harry Maguire hasn't rediscovered his pre-lockdown excellence, Luke Shaw is unreliable and David de Gea has been dodgy for over a year. The question is whether they can get enough of the ball to do damage, and refrain from conceding in the meantime.

The problem for Villa is how they handle United's midfield and attack - they can put two men on Bruno Fernandes, except by doing they liberate Paul Pogba and vice-versa. And they can defend deep to deny Marcus Rashford space in behind, except that brings Mason Greenwood closer to goal, and no one wants that.

Has any side ever spent as much money to go down as Villa will have, if they go down?

The Premier League needs Villa Park and Villa Park deserves to be in the Premier League.

As for United, they're unchanged for the fourth game in a row - the first time that's been so since 2006 (and, I'm assuming, the heady run with Giggs and O'Shea in central midfield). I'd have thought about bringing McTominay in for Matic to give United legs in Grealish's area - if he doesn't create for Villa, they've got a huge problem - but the current formula is working too well to disturb.

Dean Smith makes one change from Sunday night's defeat at anfield, Samatta coming in for Davis. They played 4-3-3 at Anfield, and I guess that's what they're playing here, though it may be a 4-2-3-1, with Trezeguet in behind and Grealish off the left.

Let's have some teams....

United, meanwhile, look better than at any time during the Post-Fergie Wilderness YearsTM. They're playing great football, they're playing winning football, the players look happy, and it's very easy to see a plan and what needs to be done from here.

To speed things along, Champions League football is essential, and a win tonight will make that very likely. It's hard to see Wolves making up six points in four games, and hard to see Manchester City's ban not being upheld, so their current fifth place will probably be enough, but if they win every game from here, they'll definitely get fourth and may well pinch third.

This is a huge game for both sides. Villa spent a load of money and have some decent players, but are running out of games to extricate themselves from the relegation zone. The injury to John McGinn killed them, and though he's now back, he's not up to speed and the whole thing looks too far gone. It might not take that many more points to survive because none of the teams above them are playing well, but they're four off safety now, and that's a lot to make up. They need something tonight.