Title chasing Manchester City welcome mid-table Aston Villa to The Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Closing the gap.
Pep Guardiola’s men could find themselves in third place behind local rivals Manchester United and eight points off top placed Arsenal if results go against them ahead of this clash. The gap in the title race needs to be closed down sooner rather later, so that makes this a must win for the hosts.
After relegation concerns for Aston Villa earlier in the season, they’re now looking like a decent outfit under manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard took over the job from Steven Gerrard in October, which had an instantaneous impact on the team’s form. Now, they’ve got their eyes on potential European football for next season.
Disappointing.
The hosts had the chance to narrow the gap on leaders Arsenal last weekend, after the Gunners were surprisingly beaten by relegation fighting Everton. City failed to capitalise on that opportunity though, and suffered their own 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham in a dramatic encounter in North London.
City must now hope that Arsenal slip up again and that, this time, they can narrow the difference. Eight points is a huge gap this late in the season and, if it were to get any larger in the coming weeks, it’s difficult to see them turning it around. They do find themselves the odds on favourites to win this one, though.
Bouncing back.
Both teams come into this game looking to bounce back from disappointing defeats in their last league games. Aston Villa found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-2 loss at the hands of struggling Leicester City last time out and a win here would help revive their belief of a top eight or even top six finish.
For City, the motivation is clear. They simply cannot afford to lose any more ground in the title race than they already have. Ideally for the home side, they’ll be gearing up for this one looking to reduce the deficit between themselves and Arsenal to just two points. Citizens will be hoping Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland has his shooting boots on come Sunday.
High scoring affair.
We know by now that City are more than capable of scoring a ton of goals, but they’re also prone to defensive mistakes at the back. If Villa can expose those frailties, the visitors might just have a chance here. It’s unlikely that this will happen, however we’re expecting a lot of goals in east Manchester.
Three of City’s last four home games have produced at least three goals. If they’re at their best, this could easily be a cricket score and that’s why we think a bet on Manchester City to Win and over 3.5 match goals could hold some value in the betting markets.
Suggested bets.
- Manchester City -1 Handicap
- Over 2.5 Goals
- Erling Haaland to Score 2 or more goals
- Manchester City to Win and Over 3.5 Goals
