Unai Emery and Aston Villa targeting rare success inside 'circle of hell'
If Villa are to realise ambitions of a top-five Premier League finish it may well require conquering their very own circle of hell.
Or, as it’s otherwise known, the M60 Manchester motorway.
Any trips across it and into the city have generally spelled doom in recent decades and two are scheduled for this season’s run-in, with Sunday’s match at Old Trafford followed by a journey to the Etihad Stadium on the campaign’s final day.
Comfortably their two toughest Premier League fixtures of the nine remaining, they look even harder when you consider Villa’s record in Manchester since the turn of the century; just five wins in total at either venue and so many defeats supporters long ago stopped counting.
Their recent record at Old Trafford is, at least, a little better than at the Etihad, where they have lost 10 straight in the Premier League.
Villa even beat United on their own patch in 2021, in what turned out to be the final victory of Dean Smith’s reign.
