Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the midtable six-pointer between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Okay, maybe not, but United could drop into the bottom half of the table today if they lose by three goals. Which of course they won’t.

Rooney finds Valencia on the run, but his cross is nodded away by Villa. United then look to rework the loose ball in the centre of the park.

Albrighton with another fine effort from 22 yards. On target, but enough time for De Gea to dive to his right in make the stop.

Corner comes to nothing. Rooney goes short to Adnan Januzaj, but his cross is plucked from the air by Guzan.

Some nice possession play by the home side. The Villa fans getting behind them, but Westwood tackles Adnan Januzaj as United earn the first corner of the day.

Gabriel Agbonlahor with another decent cross, but this time Evra clears. A lot of the Villa pressure coming from the home side's left hand side.

Benteke plays provider for Albrighton after a strong, surging run. Fine turn and shot by Albrighton, but easy enough in the end for De Gea to save.

Karim El Ahmadi wallops a shot at goal from distance, but easy enough for De Gea to make the stop. Villa looking to move forward as much as possible.

Christian Benteke has now failed to score in nine Premier League matches, with over 10 hours of playing time, since scoring at home to Newcastle on 14 September. He is still their top scorer with four league goals this season

A calm day in December for football, it must be said. A late challenge by Luna on Rafael in sweeping away the United player's legs.

Aston Villa get the match off and running,.

Man United won the last meeting at Villa Park 3-2, coming back from 0-2 down, scoring the winner in the 87th minute. Javier Hernández and Andreas Weimann both bagged a brace, and Ron Vlaar scored an own goal.

Teams on their way out. A full house inside Villa Park for this one. Should be an interesting occasion.

Scotland captain Darren Fletcher back in the squad after a long illness, and on the bench today for United. "He is a bit of a talisman for the team," said David Moyes about Wayne Rooney, who makes his 500th appearance in club football today.

Manchester United have lost just one of their 13 away matches with Chris Foy as referee (at Arsenal 1-0, May 2011).

Aston Villa are without midfielder Fabian Delph. Delph is suspended having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 2-0 defeat at Fulham last weekend. In terms of injuries, Centre-back Ron Vlaar is missing with his calf problem, but indicated full-back Antonio Luna starts and and striker Libor Kozak, recently sidelined by groin and toe complaints respectively, is on the bench.

David Moyes: "It's unfortunate. Our record is good with Wayne Rooney and Robin in the team. Our record is good with Wayne Rooney and Robin in the team. This squad was good enough to win the league last year. I need to make sure we get them back playing at that level again."

Paul Lambert: "I think people are getting carried away by where United are in the table. They are still a top club with top players. Any manager going in there - it doesn't matter who it was, what country they came from, anything - after probably the most successful manager Britain has ever produced (Moyes' predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson) was always going to find that really hard to do. So I think the criticism is a bit over the top."

TEAMS: Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Baker, Luna, Westwood, El Ahmadi, Sylla, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Benteke. Subs: Steer, Bacuna, Weimann, Bowery, Gardner, Tonev, Kozak. /// Man Utd: De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Cleverley, Giggs, Januzaj, Rooney, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Fabio, Young, Büttner, Fletcher, Zaha.

TEAM NEWS: There’s no Robin van Persie because of injury but Wayne Rooney returns from suspension to lead the line for David Moyes’s side. Tom Cleverley still clings onto his place as Darren Fletcher comes onto the bench to play his part in a matchday squad for the first time since December 26, 2012.