Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Manchester United against Aston Villa today?
Cristiano Ronaldo is available and expected to feature when Manchester United travel to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday. The Red Devils come into the game after a shock 1-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers at home.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Ronaldo was forced to leave United's training complex early after picking up a thigh strain. However, interim manager Ralf Rangnick later clarified that the 36-year-old forward, along with Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire, are available for selection for the Saturday game.
Speaking to the press ahead of the league clash with Aston Villa, Rangnick said:
"I think they will be available. They only trained yesterday for the first time. Cristiano yesterday, Harry (Maguire) the day before yesterday. We have to wait for the final session this afternoon, but as it seems right now they should be available for tomorrow (Saturday)."
It is worth mentioning that this was Ronaldo's second injury in the space of a week. The Portuguese forward missed United's FA Cup tie against Aston Villa on Monday due to a hip injury.
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Rangnick confirms Cristiano Ronaldo will be AVAILABLE for tomorrow's trip to Aston Villa. ๐ https://t.co/KuiVHtEgNv
If Ronaldo is available for selection, he is expected to start against Villa. The forward could be joined by Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood or Edinson Cavani in attack.
The Red Devils, though, will be without both Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay. The duo are serving one-match suspensions after accumulating five yellow cards for the season. Meanwhile, United continue to remain without Paul Pogba, who is recovering from the injury he picked up while on international duty in November.
Coming back to this game, Ronaldo has a great record against Aston Villa from his first spell at Old Trafford. The former Juventus and Real Madrid star has scored nine goals and provided four assists in 15 matches against Villa.
Aston Villa will look to do the double over Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United
Manchester United suffered a defeat against Aston Villa at Old Trafford earlier this season. Villa secured a 1-0 win, thanks to a late goal from Kortney Hause.
In that game, Bruno Fernandes missed an injury-time penalty, which could have helped Manchester United force a share of the spoils. Ronaldo went on to play the full 90 minutes in the game, but failed to make a positive contribution. Villa now have the chance to do the double over Ralf Rangnick's men.
Away days are ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช
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The defeat against Villa kickstarted a string of poor results for the team, culminating in the sacking of their erstwhile manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
However, things have not improved much under Rangnick too. The Red Devils are currently seventh in the Premier League standings, having picked up 31 points from 19 games so far. They are a whopping 22 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City, albeit with two games in hand.