Aston Villa vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Leon Bailey nets crucial winner
Aston Villa 1-0 Man City: Unai Emery’s men clinched a close encounter at Villa Park
Aston Villa take on Manchester City in a clash between two sides nearing the top of the Premier League table. Villa have won nine of their 14 league matches under Unai Emery this season and could jump ahead of City if they beat them at Villa Park tonight.
Forward Ollie Watkins has been in great touch scoring eight goals and the hosts will need his clinical touch if they are going to take points away from Pep Guardiola’s side.
Manchester City in contrast are going through something of a slump. A 3-3 draw against Tottenham was their third stalemate in a row meaning City are six points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Three points are a must for the reigning champions if they want to keep up the apce with the Gunners.
Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Guardiola makes two changes to the side that drew with Spurs on Sunday, and they're both enforced. Stones is back from injury to line up alongside Akanji in midfield, with Lewis also being brought in. Jeremy Doku is injured, while Rodri is suspended along with Jack Grealish after both received their fifth bookings of the season in that game. Nunes is back on the bench after passing a late fitness test.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
There is just one change by Unai Emery from their draw with Bournemouth last time out. Kamara is back from a ban, so he comes straight back in to partner Watkins up top. Zaniolo drops to the bench.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Mateo Kovacic, Nathan Ake, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, Matheus Nunes, Scott Carson, Stefan Ortega, Oscar Bobb.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
MANCHESTER CITY STARTING XI (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol; John Stones, Manuel Akanji; Bernardo Silva, Rico Lewis, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden; Erling Haaland.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
ASTON VILLA SUBS: Jacob Ramsey, Moussa Diaby, Nicolo Zaniolo, Filip Marschall, Alex Moreno, Jhon Duran, Leander Dendoncker, Clement Lenglet, Matty Cash.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
ASTON VILLA STARTING XI (4-4-2): Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn; Boubacar Kamara, Ollie Watkins.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
As for City, they're looking to keep pace with the top of the table, and after Arsenal's win yesterday, they can close the gap back to three points with a win here. Pep Guardiola's side are unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions (W6 D3), but they've drawn their last three in the league, dropping leads in all of those games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. They've not had a winless run that long since 2017, and they'll be looking to get back to winning way here.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Villa have made a flying start to the season, starting the day (fourth) in the table, with the opportunity to leapfrog today's opponents with a win here. They've lost just one of their last 12 games in all competitions (W9 D2), prolonging that run by coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth at the weekend. They've struggled against City in recent times though, failing to win any of their last 13 Premier League games against them (D2 L11). However, they're currently on a 13-match winning run at home, the longest such run in the division.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Premier League meeting between Aston Villa and Manchester City at Villa Park!
Aston Villa vs Man City line-ups
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Tielemans, Bailey; Watkins
Man City XI: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Stones, Lewis; Foden, Bernardo, Alvarez; Haaland
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