Aston Villa vs Manchester City
Saturday 22nd January
Villa Park
Kick-Off Time 5:30PM
Televised on ESPN
Money is the root of all evil, and other clichés.
The Saturday late kick-off brings together two of the highest spenders on the continent. Having drawn the ire of most two-bit football followers over the past few years, Manchester City travel to Villa Park to little fanfare, having briefly been bested by Gerard Houllier and co. in The Fight to Ruin Football™ . Buoyed by the recent signings of Darren Bent (£18m – Sunderland), Jean II Makoun (£6m – Lyon) and Kyle Walker (loan – Tottenham), the Birmingham outfit will be looking to resurface from an abject sequence of performances that has seen them win only one of their last six matches. They have, though, been widely slated for their attempts to correct this recent downturn in fortunes. The cries of dissent have been particularly vocal in the North-East of England, though they’re nothing we haven’t heard before. Each outburst – be it the Steve Bruce’s series of angry press conferences or the ‘Die, Judas, Die’ posts on Bent’s Twitter page appear nothing more than an echo of any City-related article from the past two and a half years – ‘He only went there for money’, ‘The player’s showing no aspiration in moving there’, ‘This is a sideways move at best’, ‘He’s been tapped up and the club have not be professional here’, ‘Etc, etc, forever and ever, amen’. It will be interesting to observe the impact the transfer has had on Villa come Saturday evening – will it serve to galvanise the club, uniting them under Gerard Houllier, or will they capitulate in the same manner they did but a month ago, where a Mario Balotelli hat-trick sealed a 4-0 win for tomorrow’s visitors? Only time will tell.
All quiet on the Eastern front.
City meanwhile, have had a comparatively quiet week. The dust has settled following Edin Dzeko’s long awaited move from Wolfsburg, and only a half-baked story about Belgian wunderkind Romelu Lukaku has kept the wheels of the forums turning. Closer to home, Dzeko was impressive throughout the 4-3 victory over Wolves last weekend, and watched on from the stands as Tevez, Vieira, Johnson and Kolarov each scored to dispatch a resilient Leicester in midweek. For the unfamiliar with the Bundesliga, the Bosnian’s link up play was of particular note during the Wolves game, and City fans will be eager to see the player further acclimatise to his surroundings. With Roberto Mancini stressing the impact the German winter break has had on the player’s fitness, it may be more than a month before we see any combination of Dzeko, Tevez, Silva, Johnson and Balotelli in full flight. With ten goals in the last three games and the club level on points at the top of the league, the prospect of attacking improvement can only help to reaffirm the club’s standing as one of the nation’s frontrunners.
Statistics.
Aston Villa
Villa have a torrid record against City in recent times, having only won two of the previous sixteen matches against their visitors.
They have also conceded five penalties in their last five matches against them; two of which came in December’s 4-0 loss at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Houllier’s men have surrendered more points from a winning position this season than any other Premier League team (14).
Form: W L L D L D
Last Result: Birmingham City 1 – 1 Aston Villa
Manchester City
City have won more penalties (six) than any other Premiership club. With Carlos Tevez having missed his past two (at Leicester in midweek and Blackpool last month), Gareth Barry or James Milner may step up against their old club, should a decision be awarded in City’s favour.
The Eastlands club only had six shots on goal in the 4-0 turn over in December.
Level with Sunderland, City have kept the highest amount of clean sheets in the league (11).
Form: L W W W D W
Last Result: Manchester City 4 – 2 Leicester City
Last Match: Manchester City 4 – 0 Aston Villa
Balotelli x 3, Lescott
Last Season: Aston Villa 1 – 1 Manchester City
Dunne / Bellamy
Injuries and Suspensions.
Aston Villa
Injured – Luke Young, Fabian Delph.
Suspended – Emile Heskey.
Not Registered – Jean II Makoun (delayed work permit).
Transfer – John Carew has passed a medical at Stoke, Stuart Downing rumoured to Liverpool.
Invisible Men – Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland.
Manchester City
Injured – Micah Richards, Mario Balotelli.
Transfer – Shaun Wright Phillips linked to Newcastle and Fulham, Adebayor linked to Monaco.
The Match.
With Heskey and Young suspended, Carew in absentia and Agbonlahor patchy at best, the focus will almost certainly be on Darren Bent to lead the Aston Villa line. Houllier has had a tough time of things in his opening few months – his squad lie 17th in the league, level on points and goal difference with 18th placed Wigan. They have, in fairness, had the worst run of injuries in the league, but excuses will only take them so far, and they need to start putting points on the board.
The absence of the revitalised Heskey casts doubt on the formation Villa will play with. In full flight, Bent and Heskey should be a reasonable Premiership pairing, especially at home. On Saturday, however, Bent may play as the solitary striker with Young playing behind and Downing and either Agbonlahor or Albrighton wide. All of Barry Bannan, Nigel Reo-Coker and Stilyan Petrov may also feature if Villa opt to pack their midfield. Richard Dunne, should he escape a prison sentence for driving through a no entry zone, is expected to return against his former club. He will partner derby day hero James Collins at the heart of the Villa defence.
For City, the F.A. Cup replay in mid-week was something of an unwanted distraction. Many of the squad who were victorious at Wolves played the full ninety minutes – only Kolo Toure, De Jong and Dzeko were rested entirely. It is a credit to Mancini that these early round ties are being taken seriously, but with David Silva visibly short of full fitness, Emmanuel Adebayor lost to the ages and Gareth Barry likely to be hounded by the Villa faithful, the City manager may have to indulge in some rotation of his own. It has been made clear that both Tevez and Dzeko will start, though the precise combination of players behind them will remain a mystery until around 5:00P.M. tomorrow. Joleon Lescott, who was at fault for much of City’s defensive frailty in the Wolves game, may be rested if Kolo Toure is again deemed fit enough.
Prediction.
1 – 1
Bent to score in front of the Holte only for Dzeko to capitalise on a poor back pass from Dunne to level it up.
A massive thanks to Esky of www.mancityfans.net for this fantastic premiership match preview