Manchester City, who won a domestic treble last season, and finished with Premier League point totals that are among the top three in history the past two seasons, travel to 17th place Aston Villa tomorrow.
It’s pretty easy to size this one up, right? Well, games are played on the pitch, not on paper. Said City manager Pep Guardiola in reference to Aston Villa: “We have to play all the teams. Sometimes they’re at the top, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the bottom. It’s a historic club. They changed their last set-up in the last game. We’ll try to maintain the dynamic we have.”
Let’s see what kind of team the Spaniard puts out when the juggernaut takes on a side in the relegation scrap.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Aston Villa
Sterling Aguero Bernardo
De Bruyne Rodri Gundogan
Zinchenko Fernandinho Stones Walker
Ederson
Manchester City at Aston Villa FYIs
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: Villa Park, January 12, 4:30pm
Referee: Jon Moss
Form Guide: Manchester City- WWLWW Aston Villa- WLWLL
Google Result Probability: Manchester City win 82%, Draw 11%, Aston Villa win 7%
Odds: Manchester City win 1/5, Draw 15/2, Aston Villa win 14/1
Key stat: Since the start of the 2011-12 season, City scoring sensation Sergio Aguero has more goals, 31, than anybody else against newly promoted sides.
Prediction: Manchester City 4, Aston Villa 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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