The Red Devils will be aiming for their fifth straight Old Trafford victory under Carrick after taking a well-earned rest in midweek, whilst Villa fought against Lille in the Europa League.
Carrick has won six of his eight matches as interim boss, helping the side into third, where he will be hoping to secure Champions League football for next season.
Carrick delighted to see Rogers doing well
Speaking first on Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers, Carrick says he is delighted to see the England star thriving under Villa boss Unai Emery ahead of the World Cup this summer.
“It's fantastic for me to see Morgan going on to do so well. And he's done it for a good period of time now, you know, and he had the initial signing in January. I wasn't really sure how it was going to go.
“It was a step for him and I hadn't really played for an awful long time at Middlesbrough, really, so I naturally felt probably he could have done a little bit more, but as soon as he's gone, Aston Villa and... He's taking huge steps and quickly and being a major, major part of their team and part of the England team as well. It just shows how well he's done.
“I enjoy seeing him do so well. Obviously when we come against him it's a different story, but nevertheless he's a good person, he's really great to work with, so I'm delighted he's doing so well.”
Is this Carrick's toughest test so far?
United were left to think about over a 2-1 loss at St James' Park to Newcastle United on March 4th, giving them over 10 days before the game on Sunday to revisit went wrong away from home.
Asked whether the Villa clash is his biggest test yet, Carrick said he is embracing every second and is excited for such a huge clash.
“It's always about what's next, what you're going to react, whether you've won, whether or not you've drawn, what's going to be the reaction, what's the group, what are the emotions in it, how do we make the best of it, what is the motivation for the next game and driving that forward.
“I understand with it being the first defeat (against Newcastle), if you like, it feels a little bit different, but it's going to come at some point. You look through the league, it's a tough league.
“Most teams if not every team has suffered that in recent times so it's putting things in perspective really and kind of putting it in shape where we know where we can improve, what we can do better, we're taking a lot of confidence from as a group what we can and what we show we can achieve and how we can play so it has been a really good week in many ways and excited, it's an important game, there's no getting away from it, it is there.
“There's an awful lot to play for, so I'm fully embracing the situation at the moment and looking forward to the next game.”