Manchester City welcome in mid-table Aston Villa on Sunday, with one major goal at the top of the list- don’t look ahead to next midweek. The big showdown with Arsenal comes next Wednesday, a rescheduled clash from when Queen Elizabeth II died.
It will be massive, obviously, towards determining the league title. But let’s save that discussion for later. Time to talk Villa!
Manchester City vs Aston Villa FYIs
Kick off: 4:30pm, Sunday Feb 12, The Etihad
MCFC Starting XI Prediction: go here
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Position: Man City 2nd, 45 pts Aston Villa 11th, 28 pts
Form Guide: Man City LWWLW Aston Villa LWWDW
Google Result Probability: Man City 74% Aston Villa 8% Draw 14%
Team News for Both Sides
Pep Guardiola said that English defender John Stones is out for about a month ahead of the loss to Tottenham last weekend. Looking at that timeline, Stones is about three weeks away from full recovery from his hamstring injury.
Forward Phil Foden was supposed to return to the matchday squad against Tottenham, but he fell ill the night before. He is expected to return here, but we won’t know until Pep’s press conference tomorrow. Benjamin Mendy remains indefinitely suspended.
Flipping over to the Villans, manager Unai Emery will be without the services of the following three players: Diego Carlos (achilles), Bertrand Traore (knee), Jed Steer (calf)
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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