Despite some disappointment, Manchester City remain at a level that most other teams would be thrilled with. That includes Aston Villa, who are exceeding people’s expectations following dual victories against Norwich and Brighton. In the former example especially, Villa really showed off their skills, with a top tier 5-1 victory.
Unfortunately for them, they will be going up against arguably English club football’s greatest test in Man City. And they will be facing them in a situation where the defending champions will be chomping at the bit to prove their dominance after their 2-0 loss to Wolves.
They went some way by defeating Crystal Palace by the same result in their follow up match, but will be looking at this encounter to really hammer that message home. On the flipside, those occasional losses do show that City can be vulnerable on occasions.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa Prediction: Man City 3-0 Aston Villa
We want to reiterate that Aston Villa can win here. After all, Man City did lose to Norwich – a team that Villa recently took to task in a dominant victory. We also have to add the caveat that it seems unlikely. While City can lose, they don’t do so all that often. And when they are winning, they can absolutely overwhelm opponents with their quality on the pitch when they hit that magical groove which makes them near untouchable. Considering their determination to get back on top, we could just see that here. With that in mind, our scoreline prediction is 3-0 to Manchester City.
Our recommended tip: Man City score 3+ goals
Like we said, the result of this game depends more on the form of the home team than their opponents. This is simply down to our belief that Aston Villa would not be able to battle back effectively against a City side firing on all cylinders. As you can tell from our scoreline prediction, we think there’s a very good chance that we’ll see that here. And if that is the case, we’d suggest that three goals might be the minimum we can expect from the champions. You’ll find low risk 4/11 odds on a Man City to score at least three goals wager at Betfred.
Previous matches
There’s some good news for Aston Villa fans here. Their overall head-to-head history with Manchester City is fairly evenly matched. City do still have a statistical advantage, but not by anywhere near what you would likely expect. Unfortunately though, their first encounter took place in 1899, and things look rather more one-sided in modern times. Aston Villa have only won two of their last 10 matches, with City winning seven others. Ultimately, this reaffirms our feelings about this match: Villa do have a chance, but a rather slim one.
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Players to watch: Ederson & Jack Grealish
The big story coming out of Manchester City’s comeback clash against Crystal Palace – a vital game to regain some momentum in the race against Liverpool for the Premier League title – was the astonishing performances of both goalkeepers. Ederson made nine saves in that game to walk away with a clean sheet and a win. It’s this quality which has gone a long way to us concluding that a big City victory is likely here, as it’s hard to see many getting past him.
If we had to pick just one player above all the others to credit for the reversal in Villa’s fortunes over the last couple of games, it would have to be Jack Graelish. He not only scored back-to-back against Norwich and Brighton, but kept the dynamic of the team together with his frequent accurate passes and ability to seek out chances.
