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Manchester United head to Villa Park this weekend knowing they are fighting for the future of their beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag.

United have gone four games without a win after a chaotic 3-3 draw in Porto in the Europa League and although Harry Maguire netted an injury-time equaliser in the Estadio do Dragao, it still leaves Ten Hag's future hanging by a thread.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe refused to offer his backing to the Dutchman on Friday, insisting whether to stick with him was a decision for the leadership team in place at Old Trafford now. United have an excellent record at Villa Park and they need to deliver again if the manager is to survive the international break.

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Maguire's time

Maguire might have bought Ten Hag a little more time on Thursday night and his reward should be a start against Aston Villa on Sunday. Right now he is clearly a better central defender than Matthijs de Ligt and while Lisandro Martinez is struggling as well, Ten Hag isn't going to drop the Argentine who brings so much balance to the team.

De Ligt's confidence is taking a battering and he was run ragged by Samu Omorodion in Porto. Ollie Watkins would be licking his lips at facing a player who looks so fragile at the moment.

Instead, United must bank on the physicality and leadership of Maguire. At a time when questions are emerging again around Bruno Fernandes' captaincy credentials, Maguire is acting as a leader whether he has the armband or not.

He has struggled for form under Ten Hag, has been demoted to fifth-choice centre-back at times, been stripped of the captaincy and hawked around other clubs, but since the start of last season he has been reliable and he really does deserve to start now.

Villa injuries

United played 24 hours later than Aston Villa in Europe and they travelled to Portugal while Unai Emery's side never left the Midlands, but there is no doubt Tuesday's heroics against Bayern Munich took plenty out of the tank.

It was an emotionally charged night at Villa Park and the test for Emery's squad is how they recover and back up major European nights with big domestic fixtures the following weekend. It's an area where United are a little more experienced and they need to make that count. They stayed in Portugal on Thursday night and trained at Boavista's home ground on Friday.

Emery also has a few fitness issues to contend with. He is already without John McGinn and is now sweating on the fitness of Jacob Ramsey, Amadou Onana and Leon Bailey after they picked up knocks against Bayern.

Best front three

Ten Hag's decision to take Rashford off for rotation reasons at half-time on Thursday has been rightly criticised. With his job on the line he simply has to start his best attack at the moment.

Right now, that means Rashford on the left, Rasmus Hojlund through the middle and Alejandro Garnacho on the right. Amad and Joshua Zirkzee are excellent options off the bench, with Antony an afterthought, and United need goals on Sunday.

Time for a response

United can at least cling to history as they head down the M6 this weekend. They have lost only once there in the last 29 years, although that did come in Unai Emery's first game in charge.

There have been some memorable days in this grand old stadium for United and now the players need a response for their manager. Ten Hag called for more time after the draw in Porto but he will only get that if the players produce a performance that has been lacking in recent weeks.

End of the road

The away end at Villa is always great for atmosphere and that is unlikely to be any different pre-match on Sunday. How the game plays out will condition the mood, although those supporters won't turn on Ten Hag.

Frustration got the better of many at Watford in November 2021 when a 4-1 defeat quite clearly condemned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to the sack. As he approached that away end he knew it was the final time he would be doing so. He was sacked the same weekend.

Will things be quite so terminal for Ten Hag? If United are beaten at Villa then it is difficult to see how he survives a two-week international break. This could be the end of the road.