Aston Villa vs Manchester City Prediction: Haaland to extend his brilliant run

Manchester City’s change in approach has brought a nine-match unbeaten run, with the Citizens winning seven of those matches. Pep Guardiola’s side have quietly climbed into second place in the Premier League, but their good form will be put to the test in this visit to Villa Park.

Aston Villa were also in the process of turning their season around, until they suffered a shock defeat against Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday. Things could get even worse for Unai Emery’s outfit, as they need to stop the form striker in world football.

Premier League Odds

Today's Football Fixtures

Team news

Aston Villa are without Youri Tielemans and Andres Garcia this weekend. Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash and John McGinn are all expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the defeat in the Netherlands.

Manchester City are still missing Rodri, while defender Abdukodir Khusanov is also ruled out. Expect Matheus Nunes to hold onto his spot at right-back, part of a settled back four ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Match Odds

Villa are 16/5 to produce a shock victory over 5/6 favourites City, with the draw priced at 11/4.

Manchester City to win @ 5/6

Aston Villa’s Expected Goals tally of 2.8 suggests they were unfortunate to lose to Go Ahead Eagles, with that defeat ending a five-game winning streak for the Villains.

However, Villa’s underlying numbers during that winning streak suggest that was a fortunate run of form. Emery’s side created only 0.6 xG in a win at Feyenoord, while they had 0.3 xG in last weekend’s win at Tottenham.

Villa have won the xG battle on only three occasions this term, which is a worrying figure when they meet an in-form Erling Haaland.

The City striker has scored in 12 straight games for club and country, while he’s netted in seven of eight league outings this term. If Villa are going to hand the Citizens chances, then City should make short work of them.

Man City to win 2-0 and Erling Haaland to score first @ 25/1

Erling Haaland’s 11 strikes represent 65% of City’s total league goals this term, while he’s scored five of their seven away goals in the Premier League.

Haaland has also scored the opening goal in five of City’s first eight league matches, while he’s scored first in six of his last seven appearances across all competitions.

Villa’s tally of 6.4 Expected Goals is the second-lowest in the league, while Haaland has 8.7 xG in the Premier League alone. Back City’s conservative approach to pay off again, with Haaland opening the scoring in a 2-0 victory.

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