Manchester City vs Aston Villa
English Premier League
Date: 12 February 2023, Sunday
Kick-off at 16:30 UK / 17:30 CET
Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester).
On Sunday, Manchester City will be looking to close the gap on Premier League leaders, Arsenal, when they host struggling Villa.
City suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur last time out. They will be looking to bounce back against Villa.
City have a good record against Villa, having won their last six meetings against them.
Villa lost to Leicester City last time out, and they are currently 11th in the Premier League.
Since Unai Emery took over as the new head coach of Villa, they have shown a lot of improvement. They will be hoping to take a positive result from Manchester City when the two teams meet.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa Head to head :
- We all still remember that crazy comeback for Manchester City in a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa on the final day of the previous Premier League season.
- The Citizens dropped the ball when they visited Villa Park at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign, though, playing only a 1-1 draw to Aston Villa in Birmingham.
- That draw ended Man City’s streak of nine consecutive victories over the Lions.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa Prediction :
Despite their loss to Tottenham, Manchester City are still regarded as one of the best clubs in the world. They will be favored to win this match.
Unai Emery is a highly skilled tactician, and he will try to make things difficult for the home side. But, Manchester City have enough quality to overcome his challenge and win the match.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa Team News :
John Stones, who picked up a hamstring injury during Manchester City’s FA Cup win over London rivals, will be unavailable for around three months. Phil Foden is expected to be available for selection after recovering from illness.
For the trip to Tottenham, Pep Guardiola made a few changes to his starting lineup. One of these was the inclusion of Kevin De Bruyne on the bench. He is expected to be back in the starting XI alongside Ilkay Gundogan.
On the hour mark, Mahrez was substituted for De Bruyne, who was arguably the most dangerous player in the team. He should be given another chance to prove himself on the right side, as Grealish is set to face his former club.
In the treatment room, there hasn’t been much movement regarding the injuries to Diego Carlos and Jed Steer. However, Bertrand Traore is starting to train fully.
In the defeat to Leicester, Emery made a couple of changes at half-time. He dropped Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsay for Philippe Coutinho and Alex Moreno, and he should be confident of doing the same to the former.
Ashley Young was not at his best before he was replaced by Matt Cash. With Young struggling, Cash could be recalled to the starting lineup.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Laporte, Ake; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia, Watkins, Bailey
