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Sports

Aston Villa to test United

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Birmingham, England – On paper, it should not be much of a close match.

Manchester United sits atop the English Premier League table with 24 points while Aston Villa sits fourth from bottom with just nine points.

The two sides will meet at Villa Park on Saturday in a clash where United come as the clear favorites, but Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert believes that anything is possible.

"I think that on any given day you never know what happen," Lambert told the club's official website. "The game is something we'll look forward to. The stadium will be jam-packed and the atmosphere will be great. On any given day you just never know what can happen."

Villa is coming off of a 1-0 defeat of Sunderland and has taken four points from its last two league contests.

"We're on not a bad little run at the moment," Lambert continued. "We are doing really fine. They are a young team but they are starting to get there, I think. It was a great win at Sunderland.

"But if you go gung-ho against Manchester United, they will pick you off. That's me being realistic, but you have to be patient at certain times and really concentrate and hope you get the breaks. But you've got to give it a go as well, we're at home and will do everything we can to try and win."

United head to Villa Park on a roll, winning their last four Premier League matches in addition to taking a 3-1 Champions League win over Braga on Wednesday.

A win for the Red Devils would send them four points clear of Chelsea and five points clear of Manchester City. The Blues have a massive showdown against a Liverpool side desperate to pick up points at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and the Citizens host a sixth-place Tottenham side that has dropped two league matches in its last three outings.

In Sunday's other fixture, Newcastle will look to go ahead of West Ham with a victory over the Hammers at Sports Direct Arena.

On Saturday, Arsenal will welcome Fulham to the Emirates in the latest London derby. The two sides come in to the match level on 15 points, making Saturday's clash a virtual must-win for Arsenal's title aspirations.

And elsewhere on Saturday, Everton hopes to inch closer to the Premier League summit with three points against Sunderland, Reading goes for its first win of the season when it hosts Norwich City at the Madejski, Southampton looks to avoid a fourth straight defeat when it hosts Swansea City, Stoke City goes for its first win since September when it welcomes QPR to the Britannia, and West Bromwich hopes to climb into the top-four with maximum points against Wigan at the DW Stadium.