It’s a clash between third and fourth in the English Premier League on Wednesday night, Aston Villa, a side that has been a thorn in the side of the traditional top-four clubs this season except for Man. United, comes for more at City’s expense at the Etihad.
Just three days after missing out on the chance to go top of the table with a win over other title challengers, Arsenal, Pep Guardiola’s Man City has to quickly get over that disappointment and march on ahead as they still have a chance, albeit a much lower one.
Unai Emery’s Villa on the other hand, with just 3 points above Spurs, will have to avoid dropping any more points with the London club on their heels trying to overtake them for the last UEFA Champions League spot.
Manchester City’s Etihad is Still an Unbeaten Ground for Them
Pep’s City, despite all the sub-par performances against the traditional top-four teams this season, are very much unbeaten at the Etihad in the English Premier League this season and will be looking to maintain that stellar record against Villa on Wednesday.
Man City knows very well how dangerous Unai Emery’s side can be after suffering a 1-0 defeat at their hands in the reverse fixture at Villa Park earlier in the season so it would be very unwise to underestimate them going into this game.
Fortunately for City, aside from their impeccable home record and form, they have their awesome dominant home head-to-head record versus Villa to draw inspiration from when they so need to have beaten Villa in all their last eight meetings at the Etihad.
Villa has taken Points Away From All the Big Guys
Aston Villa have taken points away from all but one of the big six clubs in the league this season and that is Manchester United not City as even the defending champions have suffered a loss at the hands of the Villains.
All those points are what has helped them secure 4th place in the EPL this season, a monumental achievement that comes as a surprise to many and coming into this one a lot more than just a draw would not be too far from the minds of this Villa team.
Their eight-game unbeaten run away from home should not hurt either as they venture to a ground where Manchester City have not lost yet this season.
Match Stats
Man City are ranked 3rd in goals scored per match (2.2 goals) while Aston Villa are ranked 5th in goals scored per match (2.1 goals) in the EPL this season.
No defeats can be found in Manchester City's 44 most recent home games in all competitions while Aston Villa are on an unbeaten run of 8 away games in their all competitions participation.
Manchester City have managed to score at least two goals in their 14 most recent home clashes with Aston Villa in all competitions.
You can check out the Manchester City vs Aston Villa game on MSport here.
