Aston Villa is going head to head with Manchester City starting on 21 Dec 2024 at 12:30 UTC at Villa Park stadium, Birmingham city, England.
Team form and recent performance
Aston Villa:
Villa has performed well in recent games. Although they drew 2-2 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, they reversed twice and ended their 4-game winning streak in all competitions.
Star player Ollie Watkins performed well in many games. He has scored 8 goals in the top league last season and equalized the score again against Bournemouth.
Villa’s performance at home is particularly strong. They have won 17 of their past 18 home games, only losing 1-2 to Everton in the League Cup in September.
Manchester City:
Manchester City’s form has declined in recent games. They have drawn three consecutive games with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. This is their first time since 2017 that they have not won three consecutive games in the Premier League.
Although Manchester City has led many times in the game, they failed to maintain the advantage. For example, in the game last weekend, Dejan Kulusevski equalized the score in the 90th minute, allowing Manchester City to draw 3-3 with Tottenham at home.
Manchester City has a strong offensive firepower and has scored 36 goals this season, making it one of the teams with the most goals in the Premier League.
Head-to-head record and player status
Head-to-head record:
Since Villa beat Manchester City 3-2 at home, they have not won in the past 13 Premier League games against Manchester City.
Manchester City has won 10 of the past 11 games against Villa and has maintained a high scoring rate against Villa in the past 18 Premier League games.
Player status:
For Villa, Bertrand Traore, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings will miss this game due to injury, but Boubacar Kamara will return to the team lineup.
For Manchester City, Rodri and Grealish are both suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, and Kevin De Bruyne is out for a long time due to a hamstring injury, which will have a certain impact on Manchester City’s offense and defense.
Match Prediction
Considering Villa’s excellent home performance and their historical record against Manchester City, Villa has every reason to be optimistic about victory in this game. However, as the defending champion, Manchester City has strong offensive firepower and rich game experience, and they often have the upper hand when facing Villa.
It is expected that this game will be a fierce confrontation, and both sides are likely to score goals. However, considering Manchester City’s strength on the offensive end and Villa’s possible problems on the defensive end, I think Manchester City is more likely to win this game.
Prediction result: Aston Villa lost to Manchester City 1-2.