Manchester City make the challenging trip to Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League as they desperately look to end their three-game winless run.
Last weekend’s late and embarrassing defeat to local rivals Manchester United means the reigning champions have won just one of their last 11 fixtures in all competitions, losing eight of them.
Not only are Pep Guardiola’s side quickly falling out of contention to defend their crown, they will face a fierce battle to secure top four if they don’t buck up their ideas.
Villa are primed to take advantage of Man City’s woeful form and low confidence, knowing victory on Saturday lunchtime will see them leapfrog their opponents. The Midlands side haven’t been entirely convincing in recent weeks, however, and, much like Man City, they conceded two late goals last weekend in a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Aston Villa are certainly not inundated with injures for Man City’s visit and are only without two of their first-team regulars. Both are missing from the final third, with Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey unavailable with hamstring issues.
Unai Emery may make one or two changes from the side that were beaten by Forest last time out, with Ollie Watkins likely to return to the XI in place of super sub Jhon Duran – even if the Colombian scored at the City Ground.
Matty Cash may continue his role as an auxiliary right midfielder on Saturday, helping provide defensive support to Ezri Konsa behind him.
Guardiola can no longer blame an extensive injury list for his side’s on-field struggles, although they are now without Ruben Dias after he picked up a muscular issue in the Manchester derby. Nathan Ake is still nursing a hamstring problem but Manuel Akanji is back training and could feature.
Oscar Bobb and Rodri are long-term absentees but Man City otherwise have a full-strength squad.
Mateo Kovacic made his first appearance in a month during the defeat to Man Utd as a second-half substitute. The Croatian should come into the starting XI for Man City, who also welcome back Rico Lewis from suspension
John Stones may get a first run out since late November with Dias out.
