Manchester City vs Aston Villa predictions: Close Etihad tussle expected
&w=707&quality=100)
- Manchester City climbed back into fourth with the 2-0 win at Everton
- Villa sit three places below in seventh, but are only one point behind
- Recommended bet: Draw
Top-five hopefuls Manchester City and Aston Villa meet in a huge scrap at the Etihad on Tuesday.
City have a slight advantage over Unai Emery's in-form visitors as the hosts are fourth in the table, but they sit just a point ahead of seventh-placed Villa as the fight for the Champions League places intensifies during the frantic run-in.
City had to be patient before seeing off Everton 2-0 on Saturday, while Villa were outstanding in their 4-1 home triumph over Newcastle.
Team news
Ederson is set to miss out again through injury for City, meaning Stefan Ortega should start in goal for the hosts.
Erling Haaland, Rodri, Nathan Ake and John Stones all remain sidelined for Pep Guardiola's men, but Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji could both be recalled.
Villa will hope to have Pau Torres back available after a recent minor issue, while Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey are set to be in the squad after recently recovering from injury.
Emery may opt to rotate up front again with Marcus Rashford in contention to replace Ollie Watkins, despite his quick-fire goal in the demolition of Newcastle on Saturday.
The stats
&w=707&quality=100)
City have lost just one of their last eight home games, winning five and drawing the other two.
Villa have won their last three away league games without conceding and have won 10 of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Both teams are through to the FA Cup semi-finals and could yet meet at Wembley in the final next month.
Villa have won two of the last three meetings between the sides but City had won 13 of the previous 15 match-ups.
In the reverse fixture at Villa Park in December, Emery's side came out on top 2-1.
Villa's last win at City came in a League Cup third-round tie in September 2012, when they triumphed 4-2 after extra-time.
Prediction
Villa head to the Etihad in fine fettle. Impressive coach Emery has guided his side to 10 wins in their last 11 games in all competitions and they have now won their last five in the top flight after an expert dismantling of fellow top-five rivals Newcastle last time out.
That 4-1 home victory was particularly eye-catching as it came on the back of what was a tough Champions League encounter with a classy Paris Saint-Germain side, and Villa have regularly proved this season they are a team to be taken very seriously.
With City finishing the season strongly too — after what has been an unexpectedly poor campaign overall by their supremely high standards — this has the makings of a very entertaining Eastlands affair.
With City now unbeaten in their last six in all competitions and Villa winning their last three on the road in the league, both will be confident of picking up a positive result but in the end they may have to settle for a draw to further muddy the top-five Premier League picture.
Win up to £250,000 with LiveScore 6!
Win up to £250,000 with our free-to-play game, LiveScore 6!
