At A Glance
Aston Villa return to Premier League action for the first time since New Year’s Day when they travel to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
A COVID-19 outbreak among the first team players and staff meant games against Tottenham and Everton were postponed, with the squad only returning to training on Sunday.
But head coach Dean Smith insists his side will be ready to take on the Citizens at the Etihad as they look to bounce back from their first league defeat in six games, a 2-1 loss against Manchester United.
Manchester City are on a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions, stretching back to their last top-flight defeat against Tottenham in November.
Pep Guardiola’s team have won their last five Premier League games, scoring 11 times and conceding only once.
Last time out, City demolished Crystal Palace 4-0 to push themselves up to second in the table.
Standout Stats
Since a 3-2 Premier League victory at Villa Park in September 2013, Aston Villa are winless in their last nine meetings with Man City in all competitions (D1 L8).
Aston Villa have won five of their eight Premier League away games this season (D1 L2), as many as they had in their previous 49 on the road in the competition (D8 L36).
Man City have conceded 13 goals in 17 Premier League games this season, an average of 0.8 per game. Only in their two title winning seasons under Pep Guardiola (0.6 in 2018-19, 0.7 in 2017-18) have they had a better ratio in the competition.
Manchester City have conceded the fewest Premier League home goals this season (7), while Aston Villa have shipped the fewest on the road so far this term (5).
Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne has provided more assists in all competitions than any other Premier League player this season (15), with his assist for John Stones’ opener against Crystal Palace last time out his 100th in total for the Citizens.
Jack Grealish has been directly involved in 12 goals in 15 Premier League matches for Aston Villa this season (5 goals, 7 assists), the most by a Villa player in their first 15 games of a top-flight season since Dalian Atkinson in 1992/93 (9 goals, 3 assists).
The Last Meeting
It was a showpiece occasion the last time these two clubs met, in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Sergio Agüero opened the scoring for City after 20 minutes and Rodri doubled their lead ten minutes later.
Ally Samatta pulled one back with a spectacular diving header just before half-time but Villa ultimately fell short in their attempts to mount a comeback.
Team News
Dean Smith said in his pre-match press conference that he will have to wait and see which members of his squad have come through their enforced break ready to play.
Ross Barkley has been training ahead of the game and may be in line for a return after nearly two months out.
Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Agüero will not play any part on Wednesday night, with the former nursing a thigh injury and the latter still self-isolating.
Nathan Ake and Eric Garcia are close to a return and may feature.
The Boss
“We’ll go to the game and play as we have been playing. We’re looking forward to it. They’re a very good team – we know that, and they’re playing at the top of their game at the moment. I believe that we’re a different proposition to what we were last season and it’s down to ourselves to go and prove that. We’ve had a small build-up to this game because of the Coronavirus outbreak at the football club, but it’s a chance to go and test ourselves again.”
Dean Smith
How To Watch
BT Sport are set to broadcast three of the club’s upcoming games and Aston Villa fans can make sure they don’t miss a minute by purchasing a Monthly Pass.
The club's Premier League games against Manchester City, Burnley and West Ham will all be shown exclusively on BT Sport.
UK-based supporters can watch all three games with a Monthly Pass, which costs £25 and offers instant access to the BT Sport app and all four channels.
Villa fans will simply need to follow the link below and sign up for the Monthly Pass, which will automatically renew after 30 days unless it is cancelled.
