Browsing: Aston Villa

The 36-year-old was left out of the Red Devils’ squad for their third round FA Cup win against Aston Villa on Monday evening, and the German boss has now confirmed that his absence was due to a minor muscular injury.

Villa were victorious on Tuesday night, recording a 2-0 win at Norwich City, but Burnley saw their clash with Watford, scheduled for Wednesday, called off at the final moment due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Claudio Ranieri’s squad.

Steven Gerrard’s side will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday, while Leicester played out a 2-2 draw with Southampton on the same night.

Smith took over as Villa manager in 2018 and led the club out of the Championship and into the Premier League. They finished 11th last season but have endured a slide in the current campaign – the defeat at St Mary’s was their fifth straight loss.