date, time and coverage: Saturday 20 December, 15:00 GMT. Live text is available at manutd.com/matchblog, while MUTV offers live audio.

Scene-setter: Manchester United's sixth consecutive victory - 3-0 at home to arch-rivals Liverpool - provides the ideal springboard for this weekend's trip to Villa Park. Louis van Gaal's men are in third position in the Barclays Premier League, causing Chelsea and Manchester City to at least glance over their shoulders as the campaign enters its busy Christmas period.

Form guide: The thoroughly pleasing victory over Brendan Rodgers' Merseysiders confirms United as having the best form in the league at present, with the six successive wins unrivalled. While the Reds are considered to have not reached maximum performance levels in such a run, van Gaal's side have demonstrated a ruthless streak when securing the recent victories. Villa's winless period in the league had stretched for over two months until 2 December when they won away at Crystal Palace but although they followed that success by defeating Leicester City at home, they lost again last weekend, 1-0 away to West Brom in the West Midlands derby.

Team news: Villa skipper Ron Vlaar returned to the squad for the West Brom game, but had to watch from the bench until the 78th minute due to Ciaran Clark and Jores Okore forging a partnership in the Dutchman's absence. Kieran Richardson and Alan Hutton are serving suspensions, while United loanee Tom Cleverley is ineligible. United's team news will be delivered by manager Louis van Gaal in his lunch-time press conference on Friday - last time around, he identified just four players as being injured and unavailable to face Liverpool, namely Daley Blind, Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.

Betting: Official betting partners bwin price the Reds as favourites at odds of 1.60, with Aston Villa at 5.50 and a draw 3.80. You can back United to come away with a 2-0 win at 7.25. (Odds subject to change).

Last league meeting: Despite falling behind at Old Trafford in March, the Reds fought back valiantly as Wayne Rooney's double, Juan Mata's first United goal and a late Javier Hernandez strike sealed a 4-1 win for the hosts.

Did you know? United have won the last seven home and away games against Aston Villa - the three most recent victories were by all achieved with a three-goal margin.

Rivals watch: The Reds will discover by kick-off if the five-point gap to second-placed Manchester City can be closed, with the Blues commencing their home clash with Crystal Palace at 12:45 GMT. A victory for van Gaal's side against Villa could give table-topping Chelsea something to think about - Jose Mourinho's men must wait until Monday to travel to combative Stoke City.

Match officials: Lee Mason will referee the match, with Stuart Burt and Andy Halliday serving as his assistants. Kevin Friend will be the fourth official.

team sheet will be updated soon