I made a comment the other about the quality of the German league and the Bayern Munich manager and I got a bite in the comments and also in the pub on the night of the match. But I actually think I was proven right about everything I posted.
We got what we deserved and we were the better side.
And I don't think I need to go into details about the German league but I will say it's possibly the closest to ours than all others in terms of competitiveness, but it's still closer to the Spanish and Italian ones than it is ours in terms of overall quality. But the reason they lost the other night wasn't because of their league, it was because we had the better manager.
Vincent Kompany has a 44% win rate as manager while our manager has never had a win rate that low at any side he's managed and it was the little things that our manager did the other night that won us the game. It was more than just sending them out with a mission.
Kompany was a great central defender and he's taken over a squad at Bayern that should be challenging for silverware and he's certainly had some of that new manager bounce juice, but I'd be surprised if he is there in two seasons. He doesn't understand what the little things are.
So back to why we won the other night and why we got what we deserved. It was that we had a plan and it was in the details.
It was Philogene and Tielemans, it was Barkely coming on with 30 minutes to go and Duran coming on with 20 to go and it was that everyone seemed to know their job. It was Martinez in goal and the support of everyone at Villa Park. Diego Costa also didn't look out of place.
It was a wonderful evening and we got what we deserved. But now we really have to focus on Sunday because we really don't like playing Manchester United at Villa Park but we really need to win.
The result at Ipswich was not what many thought it was going to be and we should have done better. We need to do better on Sunday. And that's a strange one to write, but we can do better. Some might even say we should. The bookmakers give us a good chance too. But it is always tough against United for some reason. We seem to be the side they love to beat.
But I sense a changing of the guard. Or is that just me?
Back on Sunday.
Match facts from the BBC
Head-to-head
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Aston Villa’s solitary victory in their past 25 Premier League home fixtures against Manchester United was by 3-1 in Unai Emery’s first game in charge of the club in November 2022.
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United’s 40 Premier League wins against Villa is more than against any other opponent in the division other than Everton (41).
Aston Villa
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Villa’s tally of 13 points is their highest after six league games of a Premier League season since 2008-09.
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Since Emery’s appointment, only Manchester City (85), Liverpool (84) and Arsenal (81) have earned more points at home than Villa’s 74.
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Ollie Watkins has 36 goals and 19 assists in his 67 Premier League appearances under Emery; only Erling Haaland (65) and Mohamed Salah (60) have been involved in more during that time.
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Watkins is aiming to score in four consecutive league games for the first time since April 2023.
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Jhon Duran averages a goal every 48 minutes in all competitions so far this season. He has come off the bench to score in all four of Villa's league wins.
Manchester United
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Manchester United’s tally of seven points after six games is their joint fewest at this stage of a Premier League campaign, alongside 2013-14 under David Moyes and 2020-21 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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They have failed to score in three of their six league matches so far this season, more than any other team in the division.
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However, they are aiming to keep a clean sheet in three consecutive league away outings for the first time since March 2021.
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United’s last seven Premier League goals have been scored by seven different players.
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Marcus Rashford has scored four goals in his past six games in all competitions, as many as he had managed in his previous 21.
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Rashford's only Premier League goal against Aston Villa came in his first appearance in this fixture in 2016; he has since faced them eight times without scoring.