The eagle eyes of Sir Jim Ratcliffe will reportedly be watching on at Villa Park this weekend, where another chastening result against Man United could potentially hammer the final nail into Ten Hag’s coffin, mere months after his stay of execution at Old Trafford.
Things were looking up for the under-pressure Dutchman when Man United raced into a two-goal lead against Porto on Thursday night, but a Pepe header and Samu Omorodion brace turned the tide in the Portuguese giants’ favour, and only Harry Maguire‘s late header could save the visitors’ bacon.
Shipping three goals for the second match running, Man United’s six-goal spectacular in Portugal came after a 3-0 home humiliation against Tottenham Hotspur, who blew Ten Hag’s men to smithereens after Bruno Fernandes was incorrectly sent off – a decision that was rectified far too late.
Winless in four matches across all competitions and languishing in a lowly 13th place in the Premier League table, Man United have a meagre three victories to show from their opening 10 matches this season, form which many believe is sack-worthy.
If there is any crumb of comfort for the under-pressure Ten Hag, it is that Man United have recorded back-to-back away clean sheets in the Premier League against Crystal Palace and Southampton; not since March 2021 have they kept three straight shut-outs on the road
Speaking of shut-outs, Harry Kane and co had no answer to Aston Villa’s defensive might in Wednesday’s repeat of the 1982 European Cup final – which Villa won 1-0 – and Unai Emery’s current iteration of the former continental champions made Bavarian lightning strike twice.
In customary Jhon Duran fashion, Villa’s super substitute needed just nine minutes to make his mark, as with Manuel Neuer in no man’s land, the Colombian clinically lifted the ball over the great German goalkeeper to send Villa Park into pandemonium.
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Now two for two in this season’s Champions League amid an extremely rich vein of form, Emery’s crop have six wins to show from their last seven matches in all tournaments, although the one aberration was their 2-2 top-flight draw with Ipswich Town last weekend.
Had the fifth-placed hosts not dropped two points at Portman Road, they would be rivalling Liverpool for top spot right now, but not since the 2008-09 season – when Martin O’Neill was at the helm – have they accrued 13 points from their opening six games of a top-flight campaign.
However, each of Villa’s last four games against Man United has seen the Red Devils come up trumps, as Scott McTominay‘s late winner sunk the Lions at Villa Park in February’s 2-1 win for Ten Hag’s side – a similar result on Sunday may just buy the Dutchman a bit more time.
