Aston Villa vs Manchester City

Aston Villa and Manchester City are set to trade tackles at Villa Park in a highly anticipated Premier League fixture.

New boss Steven Gerrard has launched Aston Villa’s renaissance, becoming the first ‘Lions’ manager since John Gregory in 1998 to win his inaugural two Premier League matches in charge. Gerrard has now laid his eyes on becoming the first Villa head coach to start his managerial reign with three consecutive Premier League victories. However, that could be easier said than done, with non-other than Manchester City standing in his way. The Midlanders have suffered 12 defeats in their last 12 Premier League meetings with City (W1, D1), conceding an alarming average of 2.8 goals per game in the process. Bringing other competitions into the equation, Villa have lost ten of their last 11 H2Hs (D1) since eking out a 3-2 triumph at this venue in September 2013.

Meanwhile, Manchester City secured a narrow 2-1 home win over West Ham at the weekend, extending their winning run in the Premier League to three matches. With top-placed Chelsea now just a single point away, the ‘Cityzens’ could reach the summit with a win at Villa Park, if coupled with the Blues’ stumbling at Watford. Remarkably, the reigning Premier League holders have won each of their last 15 top-flight fixtures staged on Wednesday, netting a whopping 36 goals while conceding just six in return. Adding to their confidence, Pep Guardiola’s men have gone unbeaten in five straight Premier League travels (W4, D1) since succumbing to a 1-0 loss at Tottenham on Matchday 1. But with four of their six away league games this term featuring under 2.5 match goals, entertainment could be relatively sparse here.