Chapter 13: The Prince's Team

After the first round, two teams from Manchester occupy the first and second places in the standings.

With the advantage of goal difference, Manchester United overtook Manchester City and sat at the top of the table.

In the first two rounds of the season, Manchester United's schedule was relatively easy.

Manchester United, the number one dominant player in the history of the Premier League, have several "ATMs" that they particularly like: Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.

Facing Tottenham Hotspur in the first round, Manchester United won again at home. Why do you say again?

In the Premier League, Manchester United won the 31st time against Tottenham, the second-most points in Manchester United's Premier League history.

In the second round, United will face Aston Villa, the Reds' favourite opponent as they have beaten Villa 32 times in Premier League history and are the team that has given them the most points.

The last time United lost to Villa was back in December 2009, when Aston Villa won all three points 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to Agbonlaho's header. The last time the Reds lost at Villa Park was exactly 20 years ago, when Alex Ferguson's youth team suffered a 3-1 defeat on 19 August 1995, with the Neville brothers, Barth, Paul Scholes and David Beckham all witnessing. It was that defeat that made Alan Hansen shout out the famous saying: "You can't win anything with a bunch of kids!" ”

20 years ago, what a distant memory. At that time, Villa's young talent Jack Grealish and Manchester United striker James Wilson were both unborn, while Luke Shaw was just a month old. Since then, however, Aston Villa have suddenly become Manchester United's 'point boys': they have led the Red Devils for a total of 180 minutes in their last 19 home games against the Red Devils (1,710 minutes in total), scoring a measly nine goals compared to United's 30!

Against Villa, Manchester United have a pretty big chance of winning.

It was the same this time, and despite the change of manager, Carlo Ancelotti was not many, not many would have thought that Villa could pose any threat to United on their home turf – everyone is used to losing to Manchester United.

Manchester United's clash with Villa was the first Premier League fixture of the season to kick off and was brought forward to Friday evening due to a Champions League qualifying fixture coming up next week.

Last season, Villa struggled to relegate, and this season although they let go of Benteke, they have successively introduced strongmen such as Ayew and Gueye, and their strength has risen a lot. This season, of course, they don't want to struggle like they did last season.

Facing Manchester United at home, Villa are clearly looking to make some waves on their home turf, and they have fielded a three-man starting formation at home, with Scott Sinclair, Agbonlaho and Ayew starting together. It has to be said that Villa's manager Sherwood is very bold......... Or take risks.

Villa were too risky and although they played at Villa Park and they fielded an attacking formation, the tempo of the game was not on their side from the start, and United easily took control of the situation and kept Villa from attacking momentum at home.

Prince William sat in the stands at Villa Park and looked at the look on his face at the moment and knew that his home team was not in a good situation at this time.

Villa Park started out well, but now it seems to be deflated.

Because Manchester United scored!

Since the situation was firmly controlled by Manchester United's side, Fellaini simply went to the forward position and formed a twin tower with Li Qingshan, which made Villa's defense more careless.

In such a situation, Manchester United's goal is a matter of course.

In the twelfth minute, left wing-back Sandro crossed from the left, and the ball first bypassed Fellaini's puffy head, but Li Qingshan, who was at the back post, did not miss this opportunity, and he jumped high to head the ball. With Marouane Fellaini helping him to share the defensive pressure, he is more comfortable in the box.

1 to 0!

Prince William sat in his seat with a sad face. Considering the face of the royal family, of course, he could not say any indecent words to the Villa fans sitting in the other stands, but his bad face was indeed very obvious.

It's no secret that the British royal family is a fan of Villa.

Among the crests of Villa is a lion, and this lion is widely used on various flags in the United Kingdom. The Villa team's nickname, 'The Lions', is a clear indication of the team's previous ties to the royal family, with both Prince Charles and Prince William being Villa fans.

Compared to other clubs, Villa has received a lot of support in British high society, which may have something to do with the royal family's support for Villa.

Villa's early establishment (founded in 1874), good results (especially in the early days, the 19th century won five top-flight titles, three FA Cup), and later decline and prosperity (even won the Champions League in 1982, one of the only five English teams), is also an important reason why Villa can attract a large number of fans and make it a fan for generations.

Although Villa's current results are not good, 98% of their fan base is white, which is rare in England, where the population of Indian, African and Muslim people is currently overflowing, it is rare to maintain such a pure fan base in terms of "blood".

Relative to other English giants, Manchester United and Manchester City are both Workers' clubs, Liverpool are the home team of Dockers, and Arsenal's nickname goes without saying. And Chelsea was basically a relegation team before Abou took over, and was still in the second division at the end of the 80s.

The Jazz in England, who had a bit of status, didn't even care about the middle class back then, how could they support a team with the clay-legged workers...... As a result, Aston Villa, which has good results and historical heritage, has slowly accumulated such a group of "high-quality" fans in its history of more than 100 years.

Although Villa has a "deep heritage", it can't stand the current lack of strength.

When the game was over, the upper class of Villa Park was doomed to be in a bad mood.

The bright red "0:4" on the scoreboard darkens the faces of the home team's fans.

It was another 4-0, this time it was Li Qingshan who scored for United, who continued to score twice in the second Premier League, except for that header in the 12th minute, and then knocked on Villa's goal again with a long-range shot towards the end of the first half.

In the second half, Fellaini scored from a corner kick and Di Maria cut inside on the left.

Once again, Manchester United walked away three points from Villa Park.

Prince William rubbed his face, even the prince's team had to accept the reality of poor strength.