Manchester United without six players for Aston Villa clash

The festive fixtures are upon us, but Ruben Amorim has little reason to celebrate.

The Manchester United manager is preparing his side for a massive Premier League clash this weekend against Aston Villa, a team that has won nine straight matches across all competitions.

Facing down a red-hot Villa side is an unenviable task for any club, but the Red Devils will be without six players for the important game — Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo, and Bryan Mbeumo are away at the Africa Cup of Nations, while influential midfielder Casemiro will be unavailable due to yellow card accumulation.

• Read next | Five festive games that could shape the second half of the Premier League season

Additionally, Amorim confirmed on Friday that experienced defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire will miss Sunday's game as they continue to recover from injury, leaving the Man United back line thin against a Villa attack that has found its form over the past several weeks.

If there is a silver lining to the absences, it's that — as of Friday's training session — no one else is set to miss the upcoming encounter.

Just don't expect any surprising recoveries, Amorim said.

"I think everyone is well," he explained. "We have one more training [session] but today, the rest of the lads are ready to go.

"I'm saying that nobody will recover, nobody is out. Just the guys that you already know."

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga, and other top leagues.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.