The Dutchman was spared the ignominy of a comeback loss in the first of his do-or-die games on Thursday night, when Harry Maguire's late header rescued a point against Porto.
United had led 2-0 after 20 minutes but surrendered their advantage before the break. Ten Hag's worst fears were realised when Samu Omorodion scored his second of the night to put the home side ahead.
But fortunately for him - and the Red Devils' European ambitions - Maguire's late effort salvaged a draw.
The result in Portugal heaps even more pressure on the clash at Villa Park, which will be observed by United's footballing chief.
According to The Mirror, Ratcliffe will be flying to the UK for the match in the west Midlands. The minority shareholder has often been spotted at United games at Old Trafford since competing the purchase of his minority stake.
United will be facing a Villa side buoyed by their famous win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Unai Emery's men secured a repeat of Villa's 1982 European Cup final win over the same opponents thanks to Jhon Duran's wonderstrike.
After United's draw at the Dragao: ' We need to be better on the ball, keep switching. We had good players, a good plan. We have to defend better. We had three clean sheets not a long time ago so we can defend very good, but we have to go back to those habits.
United face the daunting task of toppling Aston Villa, buoyed by their midweek win over Bayern Munich
'We will get there. Don't judge us in this moment, judge us at the end of the season. We are in the process, we will improve. We have had two seasons where we have reached finals, we will continue and fight.
'You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team. The players are together, they have a strong spirit and they want to achieve. We have a good mentality but in some defending parts we have to step up.'