Aston Villa vs Man City predicted lineups and team news
Under-siege Manchester City travel to Aston Villa for Saturday’s early Premier League game as both sides aim to bounce back from losing efforts last time.
Aston Villa vs Man City predicted lineups
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans; Cash, McGinn, Rogers; Duran.
Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Gvardiol; Silva, Gundogan; Doku, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland.
They clash at Villa Park on Saturday, December 21st with a 12:30 kick-off and the game is live on TNT Sports 1.
Guardiola has surely never felt pressure quite like this before during his illustrious managerial career. A run of one win in 11 games for Manchester City has been as unlikely as it was unprecedented for the Citizens under the Spaniard.
As the poor run has gathered momentum, City’s performances are becoming more disjointed. Guardiola admits to sleepless nights worrying about their form.
Rumours of a rift between the manager and playmaker Kevin De Bruyne will not stop, and more fuel went on the fire this week as talk of the Belgian moving away from the club in the January transfer window gathered pace.
De Bruyne, meanwhile, told the media this week that as a player ‘when you fear the consequences, that is when you make bad decisions’. It was clear in that prolonged interview that De Bruyne, and perhaps more in the City dressing room, have lost some of the confidence that made them so dominant.
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The question now for Guardiola is, can that confidence be rebuilt in time to save something from this season? If City are beaten on Saturday and other results go against them, they could languish as low as ninth in the Premier League on Christmas Day – something that was unthinkable a few short months ago.
Aston Villa vs Man City team news
Emery has given Duran the nod to start in the last two Premier League games and the Colombian forward has duly scored against Southampton and Nottingham Forest, while he was also on target after coming off the bench against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
The 21-year-old must hold an excellent chance of keeping his place now, though England forward Ollie Watkins will be eager to get back in the starting side too.
Jacob Ramsey remains on the sidelines for the home side, while Leon Bailey missed the games against Leipzig and Forest with a thigh problem and may be absent again.
Pep Guardiola may look to Stones to come back into his backline in an attempt to get a second win in 12 games for City.
The defender hasn’t featured since the 4-0 home loss against Tottenham last month but was named amongst the subs for the loss to Manchester United last time.
Rico Lewis was suspended for the derby loss, but comes back into contention for the trip to the Midlands.
