Manchester City welcome Aston Villa to Etihad Stadium in their rearranged Premier League clash from the opening weekend.
Victory would see City go top for at least a few hours, whereas Villa look to climb to eighth with a win.
Team News
Aymeric Laporte is unlikely to feature for Man City as he nears a return from a thigh injury.
Eric Garcia (personal) is also doubtful along with Nathan Ake (muscle) but Sergio Aguero is ruled out due to self-isolation after contact with someone who tested positive for Coronavirus.
Villa could welcome Ross Barkley back from a hamstring injury which kept the midfielder sidelined prior to the club’s Coronavirus outbreak.
Trezeguet (Coronavirus) and Wesley (knee) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Man City are unbeaten in their last seven league meetings against Aston Villa (W6, D1).
- Villa have avoided defeat in two of last six home league games against Man City (W1, D1, L4).
- Citizens’ Sergio Aguero has scored in his last two appearances against Villa across all competitions.
- No Villa player has been substituted on more occasions this season in the Premier League than Bertrand Traore, who was benched in seven matches.
- No Premier League midfielder this season have created more assists than the ten produced by City’s De Bruyne.
Prediction
Man City were simply stunning to watch on Sunday because they just ruthlessly tore Crystal Palace to shreds with waves of attack, which has to be a huge worry for Villa’s defence given their poor form in recent meetings.
This however is the first game back for Villa’s first team in nearly three weeks since a Coronavirus outbreak, making it difficult to predict what we could see but if they play like they did last time out at Man Utd then we could be in for a tough battle here.
I however simply can’t see City losing this given their current form and extremely dangerous goal threat across the pitch.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Aston Villa
Result: Manchester City 2-0 Aston Villa