Manchester United: Romero, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Shaw, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Mata, Memphis, Januzaj, Rooney.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Bacuna, Clark, Richards, Amavi, Gueye, Veretout, Westwood, Sinclair, Ayew, Agbonlahor
Why don’t we have Friday night Premier League football every week? Well, actually, it looks as if we soon will.
There is a risk of mass, booze-fulled brawls that may ensue up and down the country afterwards.
But it won’t be too long before The Premier League is further exploiting their revenue potential with a Friday night slot.
European commitments will obviously be an issue. But the TV peeps can get around this by agreeing, in the main, to show teams who aren’t in Europe on a Friday night. This will lend popularity to smaller teams, who fans of other clubs wouldn’t usually watch. And it would increase the revenue, from TV money, for the ‘minnows’.
It also spreads the football league weekend into a four dayer and gives the addict less days to endure without the beautiful game.
And what better way to enjoy your release from work for the weekend than a few beverages and Aston Villa vs Manchester United – two of the clubs most rich in tradition in this country?
The trajectories of Manchester United and Aston Villa have of course been very different over the last 20 years. While United have won 2 European Cups and 13 Premier League titles, Aston Villa have regularly flirted with relegation and have had more managers than a Moss Side pub.
But, with a self-assured Tim Sherwood at the helm and much more investment than in recent years – largely due to the sale of Christian Benteke – Aston Villa could be on the up. Watch this space.
