Solskjaer has plenty of faith in his players
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer trusts his players to kick-off an unenviable run of three Premier League matches in five days with victory in today’s “massive game” at Aston Villa.
The Red Devils head to the midlands fresh from sealing their place in the Europa League final on Thursday, when they lost the semi-final second leg 3-2 at Roma, but progressed 8-5 on aggregate.
Villarreal await in Poland, but the focus now is on Villa as United continue a tough run of four matches in eight days, with home games against Leicester and Liverpool following hot on the heels of today’s match.
“Sunday at 2pm is not the problem,” Solskjaer said. “That was always scheduled. Tuesday, Thursday after Thursday, Sunday, that’s a big problem.
“I trust my players to get a result (against Aston Villa). First of all, Sunday is a big game for us. It is massive and we’re looking forward to it after the boost of getting into a final.
“This will hopefully give us energy and then let’s see what we do Tuesday and Thursday. We just have to take it day by day.”
The anti-Glazer protest that saw last weekend’s clash with Liverpool postponed means this trip to Villa will be their first Premier League match in a fortnight.
United remain safely ensconced in second as Leicester managed just four points from three matches during that period, giving them a four-point cushion over the third-placed Foxes.
The Red Devils’ superior goal difference means they will wrap up a top-four finish by winning at Villa Park, where United have not lost a Premier League match since 1995.
Solskjaer’s side remain unbeaten on their top-flight travels this season and face a Villa side still without influential skipper Jack Grealish, who has a shin injury, but the United boss will not take the hosts for granted.
“I think they’re a very good team,” he said of Dean Smith’s men. “You saw them last week beat Everton. They’ve had a very good season. They had a little spell with some worse results, but we played them in a pre-season friendly before this season and lost.
“We won a hard-fought game 2-1 at Old Trafford. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Dean Smith feels Aston Villa have demonstrated their desire for a strong finish to the season with their last two performances.
After drawing 2-2 at home against West Brom on April 25, Villa then won 2-1 at Everton last weekend, registering only their third victory in 12 games.
They are 10th in the Premier League table with five fixtures to play and Smith said: “Our players are still chasing things.
“We’ve felt we’ve had some inconsistent performances, we lost a little bit of momentum.
“We want to finish the season well and I think people have seen that with our last two performances. We need to make sure we take that into the next game now.
“We feel like we are going in the right direction again. These last five games, we want to hit those markers of creating big chances and being solid at the back.”