Aston Villa vs Man City Match Betting Preview
Midweek EPL Clash
Two Top Four Sides Face Off
Aston Villa have been the surprises of the season in the Premier League so far but they’ve got quite a difficult week ahead of them. On Wednesday, they host defending champions Manchester City followed by a match vs EPL leaders Arsenal on Saturday. In Wednesday’s top-four clash, visitors Man City will look to break a three-game draw streak with a victory. We’ll cover the Aston Villa vs Man City match betting odds and team news ahead of this excellent EPL game.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Day/Time:
Location: Villa Park, Birmingham, England
Head-to-Head
By grabbing a 1-1 draw vs Manchester City at Villa Park last season, Aston Villa broke Man City’s nine-game winning streak in this fixture. Still, City managed to pick up a 3-1 win over Villa at the Etihad in 2022-23. A look at the EPL records in this fixture shows that Villa have struggled in recent years. They last defeated Man City in the Premier League in 2013 haven’t won any of the last 13 games. Aston Villa vs Man City match betting tips often mention considering both teams to score, as it’s happened in each of the last five meetings.
Villa Grab Late Point
Aston Villa have lost just once in their last 12 matches, in all competitions. On Sunday, they went to Bournemouth for a Premier League match. Villa fell behind after just 10 minutes after Bournemouth capitalized on Diego Carlos’s misplaced pass. Fortunately, Leon Bailey scored a brilliant individual goal midway through the first half. AFC Bournemouth once again took the lead in the second half.
Trailing late on, substitute Moussa Diaby sent in a cross that Ollie Watkins skillfully headed into the back of the net. The match finished 2-2 and Unai Emery’s Villa remained in the top four. Currently, Aston Villa are just four points behind leaders Arsenal and their Premier League odds to make the top six are -200.
Watkins has been the standout performer for Aston Villa in the Premier League, as he’s already registered eight goals and six assists. He’s tied for fourth in the EPL in goals and is third in assists. Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby, Emi Martinez and Pau Torres have also been central to Villa’s success.
Heading into this midweek match, Aston Villa have a few injuries bettors should be aware of. Center back Tyrone Mings is out, along with attacking midfielder Emi Buendia. In Mings’ absence, the center back pairing of Carlos and Torres has been doing just fine. Still, Villa are conceding close to 1.5 goals per game and haven’t kept a clean sheet in a Premier League match since September.
Man City Draw Three in a Row
Manchester City are in relatively uncharted territory. They’ve drawn three straight matches in the Premier League and haven’t been their usual dominant selves. The last time City went three games without a win in the EPL was in Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge, 2016-17. On Sunday, City had plenty of chances vs Tottenham but the match ended in a 3-3 draw. Erling Haaland wasn’t himself, as he missed a number of big chances.
A look at the Manchester City standings shows that they’re in third place in the EPL, four points behind leaders Arsenal. They’re also going to have deal with suspensions to Rodri and Jack Grealish on Wednesday. Note that when Rodri served on a three-game suspension earlier this season, City lost all three of those matches. Guardiola is undoubtedly waiting for the day he gets Kevin de Bruyne back.
De Bruyne, City’s most creative EPL player, has been out since the first match of the season. Meanwhile, Matheus Nunes is also nursing a muscle injury. Man City have conceded eight goals in their last three Premier League matches alone, which is unusual for them. Granted, they have faced Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham on the last three Matchdays.
Match Analysis & Odds/tie_index]Match Analysis & Odds
Rodri’s absence is certainly going to affect Manchester City. They haven’t won without him this season and they don’t have a replacement that plays the defensive midfield position the same way that he does. Mateo Kovacic or Rico Lewis are candidates to start in his place on Wednesday. Regardless, the Aston Villa vs Man City match betting odds price Villa as +325 underdogs for this one. The last time they beat City at Villa Park was 10 years ago.
Haaland should be motivated after failing to get on the scoresheet vs Tottenham. His City are -135 favorites despite their recent form and Aston Villa’s perfect 6-0 home record this EPL season. A fourth straight City draw sits at +320 odds and it’d further hurt the three-time defending champions in the title race.
Meanwhile, bettors can take Aston Villa +0.5, +1 at -110, as well as Man City -0.5, -1. Under 3, 3.5 goals are priced at -125 odds, but neither defense has been stellar as of late. Villa should not be underestimated in this top four clash.
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