Something For The Weekend: Aston Villa vs Manchester United

Gabriel Agbonlahor's impressive England debut on Wednesday night has given Martin O'Neill even more cause to be happy about the way these last seven days have gone for Aston Villa, even if the Villa Park boss had joked that he'd rather his stay youngster had been left at home instead. With no injury problem reported, O'Neill will be getting back a player whose confidence is sky high at the moment, and that will be important as Villa prepare to face opponents who have tormented them in recent years.

The last time the Villans beat Manchester United was in the League Cup in October 1999, playing against a shadow side that included the likes of Michael Clegg, Michael Twiss, John Curtis and Richard Wellens. The last time Villa beat a 'proper' United team was August 1995, and even that was against a young team taking their first steps after a transitional summer. It's certainly a long, long time since these two sides were competing for the first-ever Premier League title, back in 1992/93, and there's not been a lot of competition between them since.

If there's been a black mark against Martin O'Neill during his time at Villa Park, it has been his relative inability to get results against the top four sides in the country, something that surely has to change if he wants to take his team into those restricted echelons. A win against Chelsea last season was a rare good result, but after taking three points from the Emirates a week ago is a big step in the direction and that would turn into a giant leap if O'Neill could mastermind a follow-up victory against the champions on Saturday.

Having lost 4-1 and 4-0 in the league to them last season, with a 2-0 home FA Cup defeat in between, things can certainly only get better, but Villa won't have gained much encouragement from seeing Sir Alex Ferguson's men smash five past Stoke City last weekend. However, with Dimitar Berbatov a doubt after picking up an injury for Bulgaria and Wayne Rooney missing for United and England this week with a chest infection, the champions might not be at their most potent at Villa Park. Though, with Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch, they're rarely less than dangerous.

It's also worth remembering that before their win at the Emirates, Villa weren't on a good run of form, having lost to Newcastle and Middlesbrough. They'll know that Arsenal were similarly struggling before their big win over United, and then went on to lose their next game after that, so it does take more than just one win to get back on track. But there is the feeling that O'Neill has finally assembled a team strong enough in all departments to be a threat to the Big Four, and this weekend is the perfect chance for them to really prove that.

Arsenal have also got a big task ahead of them on Saturday, as they travel to Eastlands to face a Manchester City side who are terribly inconsistent, but deadly on their day, particularly at home. Robinho was in sparkling form for Brazil in their demolition job on Portugal in midweek (while Elano scored a stunner, not that it will help him get in the City team), and the thought of what he can do to the ragged Arsenal defence must be giving Arsene Wenger as many headaches as the news that Theo Walcott is out for three months and the sight of his captain seemingly having another meltdown.

Neither of these teams can afford to lose, as City are only a point above the relegation zone and Arsenal are only just clinging onto their top four spot. If they lose a fifth game already, competing to get in the Champions League places will not only become their only chance of league success this season, but it will also be clear that it will be a massive challenge for them, particularly if last week's conquerors get another three points this weekend.