MANCHESTER CITY vs ASTON VILLA 
Saturday 26thOctober 1230hrs
Football – England – Premier League
Pick Man City win both halves
Bookmaker Unibet
Odds: 1.65 (odds taken 07:22 GMT, 25 October )
Saturday’s early kick-off in the Premier League sees a lunchtime clash between Manchester City and Aston Villa as the betting tips continue at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa Live Stats & Betting Odds
Manchester City Prediction – Can Man City reduce deficit?
The hosts certainly have a reasonable chance of reducing Liverpool’s lead at the top, albeit overnight on Saturday, if they take all three points at home against Aston Villa in this lunchtime kick-off, while Liverpool have a potentially tricky match against Tottenham on Sunday.
Back to Manchester City though, and Pep Guardiola’s side recorded an emphatic 5-1 home win over Italian side, Atalanta, in the Champions League during the week which came on the back of last weekend’s 2-0 win away at Crystal Palace with the defeat to Wolves now seeming a distant memory.
City’s 3-2 defeat away at Norwich City will probably be remembered for longer, but form at home will need to continue if they’re to keep the pressure upon Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. They have a great opportunity to just that against a poor travelling Aston Villa outfit though this Saturday.
With Leicester City now emerging as possible contenders again for the title following their 9-0 rout of Southampton on Friday night, Manchester City will be eager to assert their authority at the top of the table here, and Villa may well be bracing themselves ahead of this clash!
Aston Villa Prediction – Can Aston Villa win three on the trot?
If they’re to do so, they’ll have to equal what their west midlands counterparts, Wolves, did a couple of weeks ago when they registered a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium, but as Villa have lost 3 of their 4 away matches so far this season, this feat looks beyond them on Saturday.
Nevertheless, against the mere mortals of the Premier League recently, Aston Villa have recorded back-to-back wins against Norwich City 5-1 away from home and a 2-1 home win against Brighton to hand the west midlands club a very useful 6-point haul, and they’re now unbeaten in their last 3 matches heading into Saturday’s trip to Manchester.
Villa earned a point in an earlier 2-2 draw at home with Burnley, but while the visitors have suffered just 1 defeat from their first 5 matches on home turf at Villa Park so far this term, their results away from home have left a lot to be desired.
An away record of 1-0-3 8/8 includes defeats at Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Arsenal, with their one highlight being their resounding 5-1 win at Norwich City. They possess a poor record against Manchester City though in recent times and could find themselves on the end of a rather heavy defeat here.
Key-Facts – Manchester City vs Aston Villa
- Manchester City have won 6 of their 9 matches to date in the Premier League
- Aston Villa have lost 3 of their first 4 away matches in the Premier League
- Manchester City have won 5 of the last 6 meetings against Aston Villa
Betting Tips Verdict
Manchester City will be aware of Leicester City joining the title race and will be keen to assert their authority over Villa here.
