This game isn't on TV anywhere, so it's FA Cup action with Jack Woodward for all! It will be fun, as always, to hear the bizarre mispronunciations whichever former Villan is on the call with Mr. Woodward, especially since he's probably never heard of 7/8ths of Sheffield United's team.
The Blades come into the day playing much better football than they were at the beginning of the season, but they're still a League One side that Villa really ought to dispatch pretty easily. Of course if we've learned anything from last season, just because Villa should handle teams from outside the Premier League doesn't mean they actually will. Given the general state of Villa fans right now, a loss would be a much bigger disaster than it otherwise might; local merchants are currently monitoring the wholesale price of bedsheets as we speak. With Arsenal and Liverpool up next for Villa, it's probably a good idea to not only win but to win by a lot. So yeah. Do that, guys.
Aston Villa Starting XI
Jed Steer; Nathan Baker, Ciaran Clark, Antonio Luna, Matthew Lowton; Leandro Bacuna, Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Marc Albrighton; Andi Weimann, Christian Benteke
Aston Villa Bench
Brad Guzan, Janoi Donacien, Karim El Ahmadi, Yacouba Sylla, Aleksandar Tonev, Nicklas Helenius, Jordan Bowery
Sheffield United Starting XI
George Long; Harry Maguire, Matthew Hill, Neill Collins, Tony McMahon; Ryan Flynn, Michael Doyle, Jose Baxter, Stephen McGinn, Jamie Murpy; Chris Porter
Sheffield United Bench
Mark Howard, Terry Kennedy, Florent Cuvelier, Conor Coady, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Shaun Miller, Febian Brandy