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The Citizens will look to continue their assault on the top of the table in their next fixture as they face Aston Villa at Villa Park in a replay of last year’s Carabao Cup final.
Despite their awful record against the reigning Premier League champions, Aston Villa will take some confidence from their last fixture against a Premier League champion at Villa Park – A 7-2 victory over Liverpool last season.
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Second-place Manchester City travels to Birmingham to take on a red hot Aston Villa side who are undefeated two games into the Steven Gerrard era. Both sides are somewhat in-form, and it should be a fascinating tactical battle between rookie manager Steven Gerrard and the elite mentor Pep Guardiola.
Since Aston Villa’s promotion in 2019, Manchester City has a perfect record against them, winning all five fixtures (4 EPL fixtures and last season’s Carabao Cup Final), scoring 15 times and conceding just three goals. The Villans will be hoping they can buck that trend, whilst Manchester City will be supremely confident that they can collect the three points.
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Twelve game weeks into the Premier League season and certain storylines stand out. Here are some of the biggest winners and losers that I have identified.
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After the disappointment of a shock loss to Wolverhampton in the league, the Hammers bounced right back in the best possible way winning their Europa League fixture in Austria.
Not only did it guarantee them the top spot of their group with one matchday to play, but David Moyes also managed to rest a whole host of first-team regulars before this massive clash with reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
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It was a mixed bag last week for David Moyes high-flying Hammers. First, they lost their first league match since the beginning of October when they fell to Wolverhampton 1-0.
Then they traveled to Austria and defeated Rapid Wien 2-0 in the Europa League to guarantee their qualification for the knockout phase of that competition as group winners. West Ham has already got one big scalp to their name this season, with three points secured against Liverpool.
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It’s a top-four clash, but not your traditional top-four clash as Manchester City welcomes high-flyers, West Ham, to the Etihad Stadium this weekend. West Ham has never been a difficult fixture for Pep Guardiola and he will hope to register his third win in a week when David Moyes team comes to town.
Both sides come into this one with midweek European victories under their belt. Manchester City guaranteed the top spot of their Champions League group with a 2-1 victory over PSG, whilst West Ham did likewise with a 2-0 victory over Rapid Wien in Austria
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After their midweek heroics against fellow mega-rich side PSG in the Champions League, Manchester City set their sights on one of the surprise packets of the 2021/22 Premier League season so far – West Ham. With only three points separating the sides, it is second versus fourth in a huge fixture at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola and his side will be looking to avenge their penalty shoot-out loss to the Hammers in the Carabao Cup. That was a match they were unlucky to lose as they created chance after chance but just couldn’t find the back of the net. It was also the first loss the Citizens had lost in that competition in four years.
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It’s a blockbuster fixture in the UEFA Champions League as Manchester City host Paris Saint Germain. A win for either side will see them book a place in the knockout phase of Europe’s premier club competition. A loss to PSG would hardly be fatal to the chances of either side advancing, but it would make their following matchday six fixture a must-win.
Manchester City has a proud home record against Le Parisiens, never having lost to the French side as the home club. The French team has a surprisingly good record in the city of Manchester— having won two of their last three there. Both of those victories came against City’s local rivals, Manchester United.
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After successfully navigating the challenge of Everton at the weekend, Manchester City’s focus shifts to much more serious business in the UEFA Champions League. Game week 5 in Europe’s premier competition sees them take on their biggest challenger in Group A, in Paris Saint-Germain.
Revenge will surely be on the agenda as the Citizens will look to reverse the 2-0 defeat they suffered in Paris, whilst at the same time assuring themselves a place in the knockout-round competition for the trophy that is most coveted at the Etihad Stadium.
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It’s Manchester vs Merseyside on Sunday in Premier League competition, as City hosts Everton in the early Sunday kick-off. Manchester City will look to keep pace with their fellow top 4 clubs, whilst Everton will hope to arrest an alarming patch of form that threatens to derail their season.
Rafa Benitez was philosophical when asked about his side’s poor form and tricky fixture list ahead of them in his pre-match press conference saying:
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Manchester City welcome Rafa Benitez and his struggling Everton side to Etihad Stadium Sunday afternoon, local time. The Citizens have performed well in recent clashes with the Toffees, winning their last seven Premier League matches, scoring 21 goals, and conceding only five.
Everton’s recent form doesn’t bode well for them as they head into this clash, either. The Merseyside club is on a five-game streak without a victory.
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What’s wrong with Tottenham talisman Harry Kane this season? Well, the usually stellar centre forward didn’t say specifically for sure, but he did reveal that England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy still haunts him to this day.
While many, if not most, observers blame his fallen form on his failed attempt to leave Tottenham for Manchester City, Kane says otherwise. Kane met the media today ahead of England’s last two World Cup qualifiers against Albania and San Marino.
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