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.
Manchester City was in formidable form for the month of November, winning all 5 of their fixtures in all competitions with an aggregate score of 13-3.
They will hope to carry that kind of form through December. If they can it can only bode well for their chances of back-to-back Premier League titles.
The other storyline heading into this match is whether or not Jack Grealish will make his first appearance as an opposition player at his boyhood club. The 100M GBP man is a doubt for this match, however. The injury he picked up on England duty continues to hamper his chances of selection at his new club.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City FYIs:
Kick-off time: 8:15 PM GMT, 1st December 2021
Manchester City Team News: go here
Premier League Preview Pod: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Aston Villa (LLLWW) Man City (WWWWW)
It’s crystal ball time. Here are my starting xi predictions for Manchester City as they take on Aston Villa.
Given the hectic schedule, there might be a chance we see Ederson given a rest this month. I don’t think it will be here though. Fixtures against Newcastle and Brentford right in the middle of the hectic Christmas schedule seem more likely for that. Expect to see the Brazillian line-up as the Citizens gloveman.
With Aymeric Laporte serving another suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card against West Ham, expect John Stones to slot back in alongside Ruben Dias at center-back.
The pair spent most of last season’s title-winning campaign at the heart of the City defense, they seem the most likely to play here.
I think we will see a bit of a shake-up in the full-back department.
I expect Joao Cancelo to switch to the right-back position and Oleksandr Zinchenko to come in at left-back to give Kyle Walker a well-deserved break.
Kevin De Bruyne still looks some ways away from returning as he recovers from COVID-19, therefore I expect the midfield three will remain unchanged. Rodri will play the deepest role with Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan ahead of him.
The attacking triumvirate could contain so many different players, such as the wealth of disposal at Pep Guardiola’s disposal. I am assuming that Phil Foden and Jack Grealish are both unavailable at this point and Raheem Sterling will be rested.
With all those caveats in mind, I am going to go for Riyad Mahrez on the left, Gabriel Jesus on the right & Cole Palmer playing through the middle.
This XI is more than capable of taking three points from Aston Villa and I fully expect Man City to do so here. If they get one or two early goals – this one could get ugly.