Who: Aston Villa vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Villa Park, Birmingham, United Kingdom
When: 12:30pm (12:30 GMT) on Saturday
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Manchester City will not seek to address their current crisis of form with new recruits in January, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
Four-time defending Premier League champions City have lost eight and won just one of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Last season’s surprise package Aston Villa now await at Villa Park on Saturday although both clubs have underperformed this season. Guardiola said he won’t, however, seek to rebuild his squad in the January transfer window when asked about whether the current squad can turn things around.
“I don’t know. That will be at the end of the season. At the end of the season, we will see the situation,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday. “What I want is my players back [from injury]. My feeling is the squad is really good. It is not if they are good or bad players.
“We lost two important figures for a while. We want players back, and then after what happens in the winter and what happens at the end of the season, the club and myself will decide what is best for the team.”
City’s troubled season was dealt another blow this week with confirmation that defender Ruben Dias will be out for up to four weeks because of a muscle injury.
Guardiola has cited injuries to key players such as Rodri as a factor in his team’s troubles, and the loss of Dias compounds his problems with the City manager adding Dias’s injury occurred during Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
“After 75 minutes against United, he felt something. He’s strong and wanted to stay on the pitch, but now he’s injured,” Guardiola said.
City’s worrying run has broken from five straight defeats to one win and three defeats in six, topped up by Manchester United’s turnaround in the derby win at Etihad Stadium. Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension in November, admits that the run has been difficult to live with, even for a manager of his stature.
“I just finished a game where we were close to winning and we lost. For the sequences that happened, I was not happy,” the Spaniard said. “I tried to be honest with myself here right now, in six or seven days ago. If you fall down six times, you have to stand up seven.
“I am fine. I am a normal person with feelings like all of us. When a situation is going well, we are better, and when it is not going well professionally, we are more [focused] on what we have to do.”
Villa finished fourth in the league last season to secure Champions League qualification. This campaign has proved to be more difficult for Unai Emery’s team to navigate.
The Villains are seventh in the table but a win on Saturday would see them climb above City in fifth and potentially take fourth spot should they win by three clear goals.
That spot would have been claimed in their last match on Monday but for a defeat at Nottingham Forest, who themselves claimed into the prized fourth Champions League qualifying spot.
It did come off the back of a three-game winning streak that saw Villa start to recreate their form of last season, and Emery remains in buoyant spirits despite the daunting task of facing the wounded champions.
“Of course, it’s a very tough match and a very exciting match for us,” the former Arsenal manager said. “The motivation, playing Manchester City at home for our supporters as well, is going to be great.
“We are going to face everything with our support at Villa Park. My assessment now is keep going. We are in the league trying to get better and of course accepting everything we are doing, always trying to improve.
“[City] is a very good test, and another competition, Champions League, is coming, FA Cup. The assessment now for me is only thinking about this match.”
Who are the big winners from Matchweek 16? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EUJZMZfpLm
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 17, 2024
Aston Villa team news
Tyrone Mings and Leon Bailey are both in the squad to face City. Jacob Ramsey is “progressing well but not ready yet to be available”, according to Emery.
Man City team news
Dias has joined City’s injury list with a muscle problem. Midfielder Rodri remains a long-term absentee while goalkeeper Ederson is also a doubt.
John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and Manuel Akanji could all return while Rico Lewis is back from a suspension.
Head-to-head
This is the 182nd meeting between the clubs with City winning 81 of the meetings and Villa claiming the spoils on 58 occasions.
City won the last meeting 4-1 at Etihad Stadium in April, but Villa were 1-0 winners in this same fixture at Villa Park in December last year with Leon Bailey scoring the only goal with 16 minutes to play.
Villa hadn’t won in 15 meetings with City before that – of which the Cityzens won 13.