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Unai Emery has Aston Villa flying in the Premier League and challenging for Champions League qualification but a weakness in his side has emerged over the last two months.

Emery prefers his teams to play with a high defensive line in an attempt to defend away from the goal and he's stuck by those principles, despite Pau Torres being unavailable.

Torres is a pacy defender and he's a key cog in the system, but he sustained an ankle injury in December and Villa have suffered, losing twice (against Manchester United and Newcastle) and drawing two times (Sheffield United and Everton) in the last six league games.

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The Spaniard briefly made a return from the bench during that run of games but that came too soon in his recovery. Torres has a chance of making the matchday squad when his side welcome United to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon but it's highly unlikely he will start the game.

Ezri Konsa and Clement Lenglet have started in Torres' absence and they are set to play again, which is good news for a United attacking front three that isn't short of pace.

Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho have developed an understanding in recent weeks and they will find plenty of space behind Villa's defensive line to target.

At Old Trafford during the festive period, Villa had a two-goal lead against United at half-time, but they crumbled in the second half and lost the game 3-2 after a spirited comeback.

Garnacho scored a brace and Hojlund scored his first league goal. The pace of Garnacho caused havoc and Emery, speaking after the match, said his team needed to have more