Toughest Test to Date for Gerrard as Villa Welcome Manchester City
Aston Villa vs Manchester City - 01/12/2021
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The English Premier League continues this week with the 14th round of fixtures including the match between Aston Villa and Manchester City.
The game will be played at Villa Park and the hosts begin the week in 13th place on 16 points while the visitors are in second place on 29 points, 1 point behind the leaders.
Steven Gerrard has made a good start to life as the manager of Aston Villa and he has won his two games in charge. The first was a 2-0 home victory over Brighton and Hove Albion and the second came on the weekend as Aston Villa recorded a good 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.
The victory over Brighton ended a run of 5 straight defeats in the Premier League for Aston Villa and the appointment of Gerrard appears to have had the desired effect.
Having suffered two consecutive home defeats in the Premier League, the win over Brighton was key but this match is going to be a tough test of just how far Aston Villa have come under Gerrard in a brief period of time.
Trends show Aston Villa have been struggling to keep clean sheets and they have conceded goals in 6 of their last 7 league games. However, Aston Villa continue to score goals when playing at home and they have found the back of the net in each of their last 7 home league fixtures, including all 6 home games this season.
Manchester City make the trip to Villa Park having secured a 2-1 home victory over high flying West Ham United on Sunday.
Manchester City opened the scoring in the 33rd minute and secured maximum points with a second goal at the end of the game. The only negative aspect for Manchester City was the fact they conceded a goal in injury time.
That result means Manchester City have won each of their last 5 matches in all competitions and they have been on a good run since losing two games in succession, one of which came at home against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Away form in the Premier League shows Manchester City have been difficult to beat this season and they have won 4 of their last 5 on the road plus picked up a point in a draw at Liverpool.
Trends show Manchester City have not been beaten by Aston Villa in their last 11 games in all competitions.
Team news and Aston Villa are without the injured duo of Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet. Every other player should be fit and available for the home team.
Manchester City travel without Kevin De Bruyne due to COVID-19 and Aymeric Laporte due to suspension. Jack Grealish and Phil Foden are struggling with knocks while Ferran Torres is a long term absentee.
There is no doubt Aston Villa have shown signs of improvement under Gerrard and they have what it takes to score in this game. However, stopping Manchester City from scoring is a different matter.
The away team could come away with maximum points in a game where both teams find the back of the net.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
EPL
221959
2
1 - 3
3.08
4°
1.43
8.10
4.95
1.43
-1
-1
1
1 - 2(0 - 2)
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