Manchester City vs Aston Villa prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2024-04-02 19:15.
[p]The latest twist in the Premier League title race saw Manchester City drop three points behind leaders Liverpool after Sunday’s goalless draw with Arsenal, which stretched their unbeaten run across all competitions to 23 games in the process (W19, D4). The last team to beat Pep Guardiola’s side and the previous before Arsenal to stop them from scoring? Next opponents Aston Villa![/p]
[p]Sunday’s draw was the first time that the Cityzens have failed to score at home since March 2022 against Sporting Lisbon (D 0-0) but you have to go back all the way to 2007 for the last time Villa shut them out at home. Revenge for December’s 1-0 defeat will be on their minds, and after winning each of the last eight H2Hs here, a stint that has seen them average 3.38 goals scored per game, getting their title push back on track here seems likely.[/p]
[p]Villa kept up their pursuit of a fourth-place finish this season by routinely beating Wolves 2-0 on Saturday, but the pressure is on as they must still play each of the top three. They weren’t at their best at the weekend but returned to winning ways after a mini-slump (D1, L1) and have now won as many league games this term as they did during last season’s entire campaign (18).[/p]
[p]The fact they are 12 points up on their 30-game haul from 2022/23 still owes plenty to their home form, but boss Unai Emery will have them set up to be hard to beat here – perhaps taking inspiration from Arsenal’s defensive performance – as they’re yet to lose a competitive away game this calendar year (W4, D4),  with four of those games accompanied by a clean sheet (W1, D3).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Manchester City’s Rodri enjoys home comforts as his last three club goals all came at the Etihad Stadium, whilst he’s also netted in both of the last two home H2Hs. Villa’s Nicolò Zaniolo is a goal threat but might be more likely to pick up a booking after collecting four yellow cards across his last seven appearances for club and country![/p]
[p]Hot streak: The home side on the day hasn’t scored before half-time in any of Man City’s last seven PL games (W4, D3).[/p]