Aston Villa vs Man City: EPL preview, team news, how to follow, stream | Football news
Who: Aston Villa vs Manchester City
What: The English Premier League
Location: Villa Park, Birmingham, United Kingdom
When: 12:30pm (12:30 GMT) Saturday
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Manchester City will not want to deal with their current form problem with new recruits in January, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
City, who are defending the Premier League title four times, have lost eight and won one of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Last season’s surprise package Aston Villa is expected at Villa Park on Saturday despite both clubs not doing well this season. Guardiola said he would not, however, want to rebuild his squad in the January transfer window when asked if the current squad could turn things around.
“I don’t know. That will be at the end of the season. At the end of the season, we will see the situation,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday. “What I want is for my players to come back [from injury]. My feeling is that the squad is really good. It is not if they are good or bad players.
“We lost two important figures for a while. We want the players to come back, and then after what happened in the winter and what happened at the end of the season, the club and I will decide what is best for the team.”
City’s troubled season was hit again this week when it was confirmed that defender Ruben Dias will be sidelined for four weeks with a hamstring injury.
Guardiola has cited injuries to key players such as Rodri as the cause of his side’s problems, and the loss of Dias compounded his problems with the City boss adding to Dias’ injury in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United.
“After 75 minutes against United, he felt something. “He is strong and wants to stay on the pitch, but now he is injured,” said Guardiola.
City’s troubling run came from five straight defeats to one win and three defeats from six, topped by Manchester United’s turnaround in the derby victory at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract in November, admits this is a run it was difficult to live with himeven to the manager of his title.
“I just finished a game where we were going to win and we lost.” With the sequence that happened, I was not happy,” said the Spanish player. “I’ve tried to be honest with myself here right now, the last six or seven days. If you fall down six times, you must stand up seven times.
“I’m fine. I’m a normal person with feelings like the rest of us. When things go well, we get better, and when things don’t go well professionally, we get worse [focused] in what we have to do.”
Villa finished fourth in the league last season to qualify for the Champions League. This campaign has proved very difficult for Unai Emery’s team to find.
The Villains are in seventh place but a win on Saturday will see them overtake City in fifth place and could potentially take fourth if they win by three clear goals.
That place would have been up for grabs in their final game on Monday but for defeat at Nottingham Forest, who have moved into a respectable fourth place in the Champions League qualifiers.
It’s off the back of a three-game winning streak that saw Villa start to recreate their form of last season, and Emery remains in high spirits despite the tough task of dealing with injured champions.
“Yes, it’s a very difficult game and an exciting game for us,” said the former Arsenal manager. “Being inspired, playing against Manchester City at home and in front of our fans, will be great.
“We will face everything with our support at Villa Park. My test is now in progress. We are in the league trying to get better and of course we embrace everything we do, we are always trying to improve.
“[City] the best test, and another competition, the Champions League, is coming, the FA Cup. My focus now is to think only about this game.”
Who were the big winners in Matchweek 16? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EUJZMZfpLm
– Premier League (@premierleague) December 17, 2024
Aston Villa club news
Tyrone Mings and Leon Bailey are both in the squad to face City. Jacob Ramsey is “improving well but not ready to be available”, according to Emery.
Man City team news
Dias has entered the injured list at City with a muscle problem. Midfielder Rodri remains out for a long time and goalkeeper Ederson is also a doubt.
John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and Manuel Akanji could all return while Rico Lewis returns from suspension.
Head to head
This is the 182nd meeting between the clubs with City winning 81 meetings and Villa claiming the spoils 58 times.
City won the last match 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium in April, but Villa won 1-0 in this match at Villa Park in December last year with Leon Bailey scoring one goal with 16 minutes to play.
Villa were unbeaten in 15 meetings with City before that – with the Cityzens winning 13.
