Manchester United vs Aston Villa Prediction, 1/1/2021 EPL Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

by Josh Schonwald - 12/30/2020

Game: Manchester United vs Aston Villa

Date: Friday, January 1, 2021

Location: Old Trafford in Manchester, England

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Manchester United (-154) Aston Villa (+550)

Ollie Watkins and Aston Villa (8-1-4, 7th in the EPL) are headed to Old Trafford on Friday where they'll meet Manchester United (8-3-3, 4th in the EPL). The goalies who are expected to start are David de Gea for Manchester United and Emiliano Martinez for Aston Villa. Manchester United are at -154 while the Villains are at +550. The over/under opens at 2.5.

Manchester United played Leicester City in their last matchup and walked away with a draw with a final of 2-2. In regard to passing, they ended with a 80.9% received passes percentage by connecting on 369 out of their 456 pass attempts in their last match. Manchester United attempted 18 dribbles in this matchup and completed 9 of those dribbles for a rate of 50.0%. In relation to shooting accuracy, Manchester United finished at a 44.4% clip by hitting 4 shots on target of 9 total shots. Manchester United has an average of 2.07 goals per 90 min (29 goals in total) and have racked up 21 assists in all competitions for the year.

Bruno Fernandes is a guy who should be able to impact this game for Manchester United. He has totaled 55 assists while tallying 46 yellow cards during his pro soccer career. Fernandes has been a starter in 203 contests thus far in his career and he tallies 0.38 goals per 90 minutes. The midfielder from Portugal has tallied 76 goals scored in 17,875 mins played. Another guy who could decide the outcome is Marcus Rashford, the forward representing England. Rashford has been on the pitch for 10,538 minutes during 114 career starting assignments and has earned himself 13 yellow card warnings. He has helped a teammate on a goal 25 times so far in his career while scoring 50 goals. He is averaging 0.43 G/90 during his soccer career.

The guy defending the goal for Manchester United is David de Gea. de Gea (205-87-90 record during his soccer career) has tallied 131 shutouts, which has earned him a 34.3% clean sheet percentage. The goalie hailing from Spain has seen 1,477 shots sent his way in 382 career starts. His GA/90 is 1.09 (415 goals surrendered) and he has a save percentage of .731. de Gea has been on the field for a total of 34,318 mins and has tallied 1,082 saves in his pro soccer career.

The last time they took the field, Aston Villa took home the win by a final score of 3-0 against Crystal Palace. They finished this game by completing 231 of the 318 passes they tried earning a rate of 72.6%. Aston Villa had a 70.6% successful dribble percentage by converting 12 of the 17 dribbles they attempted. Aston Villa had 10 shots attempted out of the team's 21 shots attempted earning them a 47.6% rate in their last outing. With 26 goals and 20 assists in all matches, Aston Villa is averaging 2.00 goals and 1.54 assists per 90 minutes.

Ollie Watkins should be able to be counted on for Aston Villa. He is averaging 0.38 goals per 90 and has been in the starting lineup in 188 matches so far in his career. The forward born in England has 17,092 mins while scoring 72 goals. He has 27 yellow card warnings in his pro soccer career and has helped on a goal 22 times. Be sure to watch out for Jack Grealish, the forward hailing from England. He has scored 33 goals during his career while assisting on a goal 31 different times. Grealish has been handed 36 yellow card warnings in 15,344 minutes played (167 starts). His goals per 90 min average so far in his career is 0.19.

Emiliano Martinez is expected to look after the goal for Aston Villa. In his pro soccer career, Martinez has conceded 103 goals and has accounted for 271 stops in 82 starts. He has allowed 1.25 goals per 90 minutes while earning a mark of 32-19-31. He is the owner of a save percentage of .735 and his shutout rate sits at 35.4%. Martinez has recorded 29 shutouts while seeing 373 shots against him in 7,429 minutes throughout his career.

Who will win tonight's EPL game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Aston Villa (+550)

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Manchester United vs Aston Villa Prediction, 1/1/2021 EPL Soccer Pick, Tips and Odds

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