You Bet | Red Devils likely to easily overcome Villa

Manchester United are top of the English Premier League for the first time this season and they will hope to extend their lead this weekend when they visit Aston Villa, while tough games await Manchester City and Chelsea tomorrow.

United's record against Villa is remarkable and, on current form, it is difficult to see a reversal of the trend. Since the turn of the millennium, United have won 24 of their 30 meetings with Villa and the sole defeat came at Old Trafford three years ago during Martin O'Neill's Villa reign that turned the sleeping giants of the West Midlands into a consistent top-six side.

Villa are far from that status now and another defeat is likely. United have won nine and drawn four of their league visits to Villa Park since 2000 (two of the draws were later in O'Neill's reign when they had become a top-six side).

Paul Lambert's side have shown signs of progress with a Capital One Cup run and last week's 1-0 victory at Sunderland, but they have taken only two points from six games against top-half teams and have not kept a clean sheet in any of those matches.

United have won eight out of nine when scoring this season and it is significant their only match with under 2.5 goals came when they were shut out by Everton on the opening weekend. With Villa unlikely to keep a clean sheet, over 2.5 goals looks the best bet.

Two big-six showdowns top the bill tomorrow. Manchester City v Tottenham is the early kick-off and it promises to be entertaining based on last season's head-to-heads, which were won 5-1 and 3-2 by City. Both teams have scored in nine of their 10 matches this season and Tottenham in particular have had difficulty keeping a clean sheet, which suggests another high-scoring game is on the cards. Another factor pointing that way is that seven of the nine meetings this season between big-six clubs have had over 2.5 goals.