Aston Villa-Manchester City is a match on the 15th day of the Premier League and is played Wednesday at 9:15 pm: TV, lineups, predictions.
Despite continuing to score in bursts – eight goals scored between Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham – Manchester City has missed the appointment with three points in the last three games, losing the top of the table and being overtaken by Liverpool and Arsenal. That’s three consecutive draws after last Sunday’s shocking 3-3 draw with Tottenham, whose script was very similar to the 4-4 match with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
In addition to having to deal with an unusually permeable defense – to trace the last clean sheet in the league one has to go back to the derby with Manchester United last October – Pep Guardiola’s team has a “problem” with the final minutes. Even against Spurs the equalizing goal the all-time champions cashed it in the salvage: on Sunday it was a header by Kulusevski that allowed Ange Postecoglou’s men to return from the Etihad Stadium trip with a point in their pocket. The Catalan coach is hoping for a turnaround in the midweek round. Compared to the Reds and Gunners, however, his City faces the least easy commitment, against a lineup that is dreaming as big as Aston Villa, and an away game to boot. And the risk that the others may run away is real.
Six home wins in a row for the Villans
Unai Emery, a year after his arrival in Birmingham, has built a “machine” that to date seems to be capable of fighting for the top four (or five) places.
Under the guidance of the Basque technician, Aston Villa has made great strides. And the performance of McGinn and his teammates is not even being affected by the tiring double weekly commitment in the Conference League: in the league, the Villans are traveling fast, have won their last six games in front of their home crowd (scoring 25 goals in total) and are momentarily fourth, two points ahead of Tottenham. They are not overly concerned about last Sunday’s stop at Bournemouth, with Watkins taking the chestnuts out of Emery’s fire by scoring the final 2-2 goal in the 90′.
The Prediction
Manchester City hasn’t lost since 2013 at Villa Park, but Guardiola’s men don’t arrive in top form at this fixture: in addition to their fasting win streak, they have conceded too many goals in the last period. Staying out of the final result, we believe Emery can give Haaland and co. a run for their money in a match in which Aston Villa should also score on at least one occasion. Destined to weigh the absence of Rodri in City’s midfield.
The likely lineups for Aston Villa-Manchester City
ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Digne; Bailey, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, McGinn; Diaby, Watkins.
MANCHESTER CITY (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Aké; Akanji, Kovacic; Foden, Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Doku; Haaland.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
