Source: Daily_Mail
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill ready to break Manchester United hoodoo
Full of belief: Villa boss Martin O'Neill[LNB]To say that Manchester United are Aston Villa's bogey team would be something of an understatement.[LNB]But Martin O'Neill heads to Old Trafford in the belief that his side is in the best shape to break one of the most unwanted Premier League records during his four seasons at Villa Park.[LNB]It is a staggering 26 years since Villa last triumphed at the homeof the current English champions. Peter Withe scored twice in a 2-1victory.[LNB]In fact, Villa have not won on their own turf against United in theleague since the opening day of the 1995 season, when an unknown calledDavid Beckham scored his first goal for Manchester United and AlanHansen famously decreed that Alex Ferguson would 'win nothing withkids'.[LNB]However, Villa are unbeaten against Liverpool and Chelsea - two ofthe so-called 'Big Four' - and also against their nearest challengersin the race for a Champions League spot next season, Tottenham andManchester City.[LNB]O'Neill was in a bullish mood last night,saying: 'We are buoyant. We are in fine form and we are well aware ofwhat we are up against, in terms of the difficulty of the task and ourrecent history.[LNB] 'The club doesn't have a great record against United but we are unbeaten against sides in the top four and those hoping to get into the Champions League this season.'[LNB]O'Neill was not reading too much into talk of the problems affecting United, either.[LNB] Coming face to face again: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson[LNB]'I'm not getting overly excited by the talk of a defensive crisis,' he said. 'To my mind, Nemanja Vidic will play and so will Patrice Evra. Michael Carrick may have played at the back in midweek, but they still went to Wolfsburg and won.[LNB]'United have not won the honours they have without carrying around a squad of quality players with them.'[LNB] [LNB]
