Aston Villa tactics
Tim Sherwood mentioned in his pre-match interview that Rudy Gestede is not fully fit to feature for the whole game so the Villans boss set his side up in a 4-4-2 formation with Jordan Ayew as Gabriel Agbonlahor’s partner up top.
The Villa boss knew that United would try to play out from the back as usual so he tasked his strikers to lead a high pressing approach. Agbonlahor minded the visitors’ best passer, Michael Carrick, while Ayew joined his forward partner in pressing for possession high in the offensive-third.
Jordan Veretout and Scott Sinclair tracked back with United’s full-backs while Idrissa Gana and Ashley Westwood defended in central midfield. Those wide midfielders completed a flat midfield line of four in front of the defence.
When in possession Villa had the option of playing long balls in behind United’s defence with Ayew and Agbonlahor making runs down the sides of United’s central defenders.
That was not the main offensive plan though. Sherwood needed his side to primarily work the ball patiently through midfield with Gana dropping into splitting central defenders to collect the ball from Brad Guzan and initiate attacks.
The full-backs – Leandro Bacuna and Jordan Amavi – pushed down the touchline looking to supply crosses to the strikers in the offensive-half.
In midfield, Veretout drifted inside from the right flank to hover just behind the strikers while Sinclair made diagonal runs inside from the left flank to supplement the forward line.
Manchester United tactics
Louis van Gaal made one change to his side with Adnan Januzaj starting ahead of Ashley Young. The Dutch boss revealed that he was pleased with what he had seen in training from the youngster so he rewarded the Belgium international with a start in his favourite number 10 position.
United still kept their usual 4-2-3-1 formation but Januzaj’s involvement meant that Memphis Depay started as a wide left attacking midfielder. On the left flank, Memphis could run at Bacuna with the ball or arc his runs into the inside left channel looking to get on the end of clipped diagonal balls over the top.
Juan Mata retained his place as the right attacking midfielder while Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin worked from the base of midfield. That central midfield pair collected the ball from defenders in the early phases of patient attacks before alternating in pushing forward to support offensive play.
At the back, Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian pushed into the Villa half looking to supply width in attack. The central defenders – Daley Blind and Chris Smalling – held a high defensive line to push play into the Villa half.
Rooney led the defending when out of possession with Januzaj working just behind the skipper. Mata and Memphis pressed from the sides of midfield while Carrick and Schneiderlin double-pivoted in front of the central defenders.
Key tactical changes
The game was a slow burner with both sides working the ball slowly and making too many safe, harmless passes when in possession.
United led by half-time so the Villans started the second-half with some urgency. They began closing down United quicker and in numbers. Villa’s improved endeavour allowed them to sustain pressure on United in the opening part of the second-half.
On the hour mark, Sherwood shifted Villa’s offensive play by introducing Gestede and adjusting the shape to a 4-3-3 formation. The Villans started getting the ball into the final-third quicker with Gestede as the target. Agbonlahor and Ayew became the wide forwards cutting inside to support the centre forward.
Van Gaal on the other hand seemed happy to settle for a narrow win as he replaced Carrick with Bastian Schweinsteiger to keep the energy levels high in central midfield. Ander Herrera also came on to stiffen the midfield by slotting in the hole.
Both managers made those key changes around the hour-mark but Van Gaal’s changes worked better. United regained control of the game, they retained the ball better which consequently led to the visitors lowering the tempo and taking the sting out of the game.
On the flip side, Gestede hardly had anything noteworthy to attack as United comfortably held on to their lead.
