Manchester United news: Team update ahead of Aston Villa plus Jim Ratcliffe discusses Erik ten Hag’s future

This weekend could prove a pivotal one for Manchester United and their under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag.

The Red Devils have won just three of their 10 games this season and have only picked up seven points from the opening six league matches. They also suffered another diabolical collapse in midweek as United squandered a two-goal lead against Porto, and it took an injury-time equaliser from Harry Maguire to rescue a point.

They head to Aston Villa on Sunday and ahead of the game, all the focus is again on the manager.

What has Erik ten Hag said ahead of the game?

“I know in top football you don’t get time and they [new signings] need to perform immediately. They have to get used to the team-mates and the intensity of the Premier League. It needs time.

“I am very pleased with the return of Rasmus Hojlund,” he added. “I thought he had a good return and we couldn’t play him in the first two months of the season. Hopefully he is fit and he keeps improving his fitness levels and is consistently fit season. That will help us.”

Ten Hag also said Kobbie Mainoo’s availability is uncertain after he missed the Porto game with a knock, while Mason Mount is another doubt for the Villa game.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe speaks

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe claims that a decision on the future of under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag is not his to make following another underwhelming performance in Europe.

The Red Devils surrendered an early two goal lead in Portugal and found themselves on the verge of a humiliating European defeat before Harry Maguire levelled with a dramatic header in the dying moments of the contest.

The defensive display was poor, but the saving grace for supporters proved to be the first half performance of Marcus Rashford, who looked to be enjoying his football much more having recently ended his long goal scoring drought.

He was one of the team’s star performers in the first half, which made it even more of a surprise when the fourth official’s board went up showing Rashford’s number at the restart. The decision left many fans perplexed on a night where Manchester United really needed a victory after a woeful 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Commenting on the situation, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport that the Manchester United hierarchy he has in place must ‘take stock and make some sensible decisions.’

When asked if he had faith in Ten Hag moving forward, he responded: “I don’t want to answer that question. I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call.

“It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how best run the team in many different respects. But that team running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April - (CEO) Omar (Berrada) and (sporting director) Dan Ashworth - they only arrived in July.

“They’ve only been there… you can count it weeks almost - they’ve not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.

“Our objective is very clear - we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously - that’s very clear.”

Manchester United resume their Premier League campaign with a difficult trip to face an Aston Villa team that are high on confidence after an historic Champions League victory over Bayern Munich.