Manchester City travel to Villa Park to play Aston Villa on Wednesday evening as they bid to keep pressure on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.
A 2-1 win over West Ham on Sunday kept City on the heels of league leaders Chelsea, who came into the gameweek just a point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s team.
And though many may already be thinking about who will win the league this season, Guardiola is insistent on managing expectations.
He said after the West Ham win: “I don’t know what is going to happen. What we have done in the past is the past. We have to celebrate now and then we go to Birmingham to play Aston Villa [on Wednesday]. The rest is fantasy, to make wrong thoughts in your mind creates problems in the team.”
Here’s all you need to know about Villa vs Man City.
When is it?
The match will kick-off at 8.15pm on Wednesday 1 December at Villa Park.
How can I watch?
The fixture will be shown on Amazon Prime, with coverage beginning at 6.30pm.
Team news
For Villa, Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore are out with injuries but Douglas Luiz is free to play the match after his red card was reduced to a yellow against Crystal Palace.
For City, Jack Grealish is unlikely to make his return to Villa Park due to injury, with Phil Foden and Ferran Torres also unlikely to start. Aymeric Laporte is suspended for the match after an accumulation of bookings, but John Stones should return.
Predicted line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia, Ings, Watkins.
Man City: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko; Silva, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.
Odds
Aston Villa - 15/2
Draw - 1/3
Manchester City - 15/4
Prediction
Man City have started to peak at the right time and while Aston Villa have had back-to-back wins they will struggle against the defending champions. Pep Guardiola may not be focusing on the trophy yet, but City will start to turn the screw on their title defence in the coming weeks. Aston Villa 0-3 Manchester City.
