United travel down the M6 to Birmingham with a little piece of history already in the bag- the first ever top flight match to be played on a Friday night (because of a march in Brum over the weekend).
Tim Sherwood's new look Villans may have lost their main goal threat in Christian Benteke, and Villa Park maybe one of the Reds favourite away days in terms of points, but this does not mean they are to be taken lightly.
United are unbeaten at Villa Park in the last 20 meetings between
the sides, and that (coupled of course with a chance to go top of the
league) will make United favourites but the pace and aerial power of Benteke's replacement Rudy Gestede makes Sherwood's side a danger to any team.
Sergio Romero looks set to retain his place in goal and Phil Jones is out with "mild thrombosis" but United have no new injury concerns and striker Chicharito could feature.
Marcos Rojo is still not up to full fitness and so will not play.
Speaking to the media on Friday, United boss Louis van Gaal said that improvement in the Reds away form will be key this term, and said:
"Yes, I think that is the key to success this season, at home we were one of the best, third in the league I think but I want to create a fortune from Old Trafford and we did that.
"Away from home we can improve, but last season it was not good.
"We are in a process so of course you have new players, a new team and the team dynamics are different so you have to survive the start.
"Nobody is 100% fit and they have to play in the beginning, I think that we have to pay attention to it and develop, but it cannot cost as many points as last year and that is our main objective."
Van Gaal was asked if he is happy with his squad or if he wants to strengthen, and added:
"Always, our aim is to improve our squad and when it is possible we shall do that but I have said more than once that we shall only buy when we think it is a contribution to our squad."
Referee: Mike Dean
Match odds: Villa 5/1 Draw 3/1 United 4/6
Form guide: Both of these sides won 1-0 on the opening day- we beat Spurs and Villa edged past newly promoted Bournemouth.
Chris Smalling is getting better and better in a United shirt- gone are the days of the reckless, nervous, flustered youngster who looked out of his depth in a Red shirt.
I remember not so long ago, on these very pages, posting about how Smalling has developed into arguably our best defender and he continued his impressive form with another MOM performance against Spurs on Saturday.
For all the talk about Sergio Ramos, I watched Smalling throughout the Spurs game and, not only did he keep their dangerman Harry Kane quiet, his brilliant lunging block to stifle Chadli was crucial in us winning the game.
Since his mindless red-card at City (in an angry outburst I tweeted that I never wanted him in a red shirt again), his positioning, diligence, discipline, leadership, reading of the game and temperament means that United's apparent desire for a new centre-back is not as desperate as it may seem.
Having Morgan Schneiderlin (and, for the latter part of the game, Bastian Schweinsteiger) in front of him undoubtedly helped and, although Matteo Darmian was hugely impressive, for me Smalling was our best player against Spurs.
LVG making him third captain (behind Rooney and Carrick) could be a masterstroke and, far from splashing out for Sergio Ramos, United should build the defence around the rapidly improving 25-year-old.
Of course Ramos would be a welcome addition, and the question of who should partner Smalling in the back four remains a question not many United fans could answer: Phil Jones is injury prone, Daley Blind is a good footballer but not a centre-half, Marcos Rojo has yet to nail down a regular place in the side and Jonny Evans is seemingly out of favour with Van Gaal.
For a long time, it seemed the pressure of playing for United hindered Smalling to such an extent that his confidence looked shot, he'd lose his head (metaphorically of course) playing even the simplest of passes and he'd squander possession time and again leaving United vulnerable.
I'm struggling to think of such an occasion in which I've seen a player improve so much in such a short space of time.
No longer a liability, Smalling has now developed into an indispensable rock in the backline, a player who has shown tremendous self-belief, hard work and courage to turn himself into one of the Reds most influential performers.
Indeed, the way he's going, it may not be long before he is mentioned in the same breath as Nemanja Vidic and there is no higher compliment than that.
Maybe the Reds defence is in good hands after all.
The Reds opened their Premier League season with a hard-fought win after surviving late Spurs pressure at Old Trafford.
United
triumphed through Kyle Walker's own goal- when the right-back poked
into his own net under pressure from Wayne Rooney- and were comfortable
for long periods before a late flurry from the visitors.
United
handed debuts to five players, and were thankful for the impact of one
of them- Argentine keeper Sergio Romero- whom produced two excellent
late stops to preserve the three points.
In a
cagey affair of few clear cut chances, Spurs started well and went close
through Christian Eriksen, who latched on to Harry Kane's through ball
but could only lob the ball over from close range.
Kane
had a shot blocked and Romero saved well from Walker, but the full-back
made the decisive difference at the other end when he prodded past
Michel Vorm under pressure from Rooney after Nabil Bentaleb had lost
possession.
The opener sparked United into life with Mata hitting a free- kick into the wall after Memphis had a shot cleared following good work from Ashley Young.
Mata again went close for United
before half-time and it was the hosts who carried the greater threat
after the break, albeit sporadically.
Chris
Smalling kept Kane in check when Spurs did break forward, whilst a good
move down the right, instigated by the impressive Matteo Darmian, saw
Rooney flash a speculative bicycle kick wide.
Spurs came on strong as the match entered its closing minutes.
Smalling produced a brilliant lunging tackle to thwart Nacer Chadli, Romero saved well from Kane's header and then beat out Eriksen's powerful close range snapshot in a spell of late pressure from the visitors, but LVG's side held out to start the season with three welcome points.
United Faithful Man of the Match: Matteo Darmian was very impressive, but Chris Smalling kept Kane quiet and repelled Spurs late charge with a series of brilliant blocks and interceptions. so we're giving it to 'Mike'.
Overall team performance: 6.5/10
United will play Club Brugge over two legs for a place in the group stages of the Champions League after Friday's draw pitted us against the Belgian outfit.
The Reds avoided the tricky looking hurdles of Lazio and Monaco, and although Brugge appear easy pickings on paper, they should not be underestimated.
Runners up in their league last term, they won the Belgian cup and are managed by Michel Preud'homme (widely considered to be his country's greatest ever player and goalkeeper).
They edged out Greek side Panathinaikos 4-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round to reach the play-off stage.
The first leg will be played at Old Trafford on Tuesday 18th August with the return at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday 26th August.
United have never played Club Brugge at any level, but do have a history of facing Belgian opposition in Europe, including a club record 10-0 win over Anderlecht in the 1956-57 European Cup.
Brugge have a decent European pedigree of their own, having made it to the 1975-76 UEFA Cup final (losing to Liverpool) and the 1977-78 European Cup final (again narrowly losing out to Liverpool).
In his press-conference on Friday, United manager Louis van Gaal was quick to big up the Belgians, and said that they should not be taken lightly.
LVG said:
"Club Brugge are a good side, they finished second in the Belgian league last year and also reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League so they shall be a tough opponent.
"It will be nice to go back to Belgium, my debut as a player for Antwerp was against Brugge.
"We have to be confident against any team, we are determined to progress in the competition as the Champions League is the expected level of Manchester United."
The Reds will need to be wary of the creative talents of midfield playmaker and captain Timmy Simons and top scorer from last term, Jose Izquierdo.
In the other play-off "League Route" ties, Valencia face Monaco, Sporting Club drew CSKA Moscow, Lazio play Bayer Leverkusen and Rapid Vienna take on Shakhtar Donetsk.
74 days after the Reds were last in competitive action, United kick off the 2015/16 Premier League season as we host Spurs in this Saturday lunchtime encounter.
Manager Louis van Gaal has urged his side to start strongly in the league this time around, after picking up only 13 points from the first ten games last season.
He said:
"It is vital that we are at our best from the beginning match, and I think that we are far better now than last year when we started, so I have a lot of confidence that we can do this.
"When we play in the same style and at the same level as the last six months of last season, then we can make a good year."
United look likely to hand a debut to new signing Sergio Romero in goal after Van Gaal told MUTV that David De Gea is not in the right frame of mind to play amid ongoing speculation about his future.
The Dutchman explained:
"It is not easy for David De Gea to manage his situation now, and you know that we have had problems with him.
"I think about the human being more than the player and I don't think he can handle that, he is not in the right frame of mind to play on Saturday, I think."
Van Gaal could select 31-year-old Anders Lindegaard or 22-year-old Sam Johnstone between the sticks, but Romero seems favourite to get the nod.
Marcos Rojo (match fitness) will not feature and Bastian Schweinsteiger- also struggling with fitness- is likely to start on the bench.
Van Gaal continued:
"We have no injuries, it is unbelievable, but it's not possible for Rojo to be match fit as he was the last player back and did not play on the tour.
"Schweinsteiger came also at the last moment out of his holidays so I don't think he is fit enough and we have to build the fitness he needs."
Spurs could give debuts to Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer whilst goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford, is in line to start after recovering from a fractured wrist.
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Match odds: United 8/13 Draw 31/10 Spurs 11/2
United's busy summer of transfers- both in and out of Old Trafford- looks set to continue as Brazilian full-back Rafael Da Silva arrived in France for a medical with Ligue 1 side Lyon ahead of a £2 million transfer.
The out of favour 25 year old joined the Reds in 2008 along with twin brother Fabio and became the youngest player to clock up 100 appearances for United but, with Antonio Valencia and new addition Matteo Darmian expected to compete for the right back slot this season, Rafael's time at United is seemingly at an end.
A passionate, committed and energetic player, Rafael rapidly endeared himself to United fans for his all-action style and never gave less that 100% to the cause and, after the retirement of Red legend Gary Neville, Rafa developed into our first choice right-back under the tutelage of Sir Alex.
What we can surely say in the case of Rafael is that there are two dominant prevailing attitudes.
One is that he was one of the last remaining players who actually cared about the club; the other was that his admirable affection for United could not redeem- and often contributed to- his status as an overemotional defensive liability.
It was this aspect of his game, in contrast to Valencia's steady reliability- that saw him drop down the pecking order under LVG.
Despite being occasionally prone to a clumsy booking, he more than played his part in United's golden era under SAF, notably with crackerjack strikes at Anfield and Loftus Road in the 2012/13 season as the Reds won a 20th league title.
In contrast to the transfer of Angel Di Maria (I'm sure I am in the majority when I say I am glad to see him go), it is disappointing to see the likeable Brazilian move on but with one year left on his contract and with the player no longer in the manager's plan, it makes sense him for leave.
On his day Rafael was a superb player, and his willingness to bomb forward on the overlap, coupled with his insatiable energy, desire, and unstinting loyalty (he played under three managers at OT across eight seasons at the club) made him a popular figure at the club.
In total Da Silva played 170 times for United, scoring five goals and winning three Premier League titles, the League Cup, Club World Cup and three Community Shields.
Everyone at United Faithful would like to wish Rafael all the best at his new club Lyon.
Rafael (right) lines up for the Reds alongside twin brother Fabio (now at Cardiff)
United winger Angel Di Maria is set to have a medical in the next 24 hours ahead of a proposed £46m transfer to Paris St-Germain.
What a difference a year makes.
This time 12 months ago the first mutterings of United making a move for one of the best players in the world was gathering momentum and sure enough, a little over a fortnight later, he signed a deal to make him British football's most expensive signing.
Di Maria could have been one of the finest players ever to grace the Red shirt... if only he'd wanted to be.
Ultimately, Di Maria is a frustrating case of what might have been.
Unquestionably, circumstances have conspired against him but it has not worked out at Old Trafford and the player has to take responsibility for that.
When the out-of-form winger lost his place in the side to the rejuvenated, nigh-on unplayable Ashley Young at the back end of last season, instead of knuckling down and working hard to regain it, Di Maria was sulking on the bench.
The Argentine would have done well to take a leaf out of Juan Mata's book.
The Spaniard often found himself on the bench in the early part of the season but got on with his football and improved until he was back in the team, reaping the rewards with a string of outstanding performances in the latter stages of the campaign.
Di Maria was sent off against Arsenal in the FA Cup and started only one game before the end of the season after that, lasting 23 minutes at Hull in what turned out to be his last game in a United shirt.
Louis van Gaal said after the Arsenal game that Di Maria needed to "change his attitude" to make a success of his Reds career, but this was something that the player was seemingly unwilling to do.
He failed to show for the US Tour- prompting a furious LVG to fume that he "does not know where Di Maria is" and slapping him with a huge fine.
That no show was the final straw, with his lack of respect, self discipline and professionalism pushing him through the exit door.
Di Maria no longer wants to be a United player so- although there are some that argue that a player of his quality should be given another season- for that reason alone, I'm not sorry to see him go.
