Premier League
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Played
February 12, 2012 4:00 PM GMT
Villa Park — Birmingham
Referee:‬ M. Oliver‎
Attendance:‬ 35132‎
 
 
Joleon Lescott 63′

Aston Villa - Manchester City Preview: Leaders seeking only second away League win in seven attempts

Villans and their under-pressure boss Alex McLeish are also in need of points as they look for their first win at Villa Park since November 5 when they defeated Norwich City 3-2

By Joel Lamy

More On :  Aston Villa, Manchester City, Aston Villa vs Manchester City
EPL - Manchester City vs Fulham, Sergio Aguero
Getty Images

 PROBABLE LINEUPS

ASTON VILLA

Given
Hutton, Dunne, Cuellar, Warnock
Clark, Petrov,
 Ireland, Keane, N'Zogbia
Bent
MANCHESTER CITY

Hart
Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy
Barry, Nasri,
Johnson, Aguero, Silva
Dzeko

Aston Villa will hope to have James Collins back in the squad after missing three games with a calf injury, whilst Gabrel Agbonlahor and Marc Albrighton could also return.

Manchester City should have captain Vincent Kompany back from a knee problem but will still be without both Toure brothers, who are on international duty with Ivory Coast, and Mario Balotelli who completes his four-match ban.



 DID YOU KNOW?
  • Manchester City have scored three times in each of their last four Premier League home games, but just once from their last four away matches.
  • The last time they scored more than one goal away from home in the league came in the 3-2 win against QPR on November 5.
  • They have won just one of their last six away matches in the league and two of their last nine in all competitions.
  • The earlier fixture between the two sides this season saw City triumph 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
  • November 5 is also the last time Aston Villa registered a home win and it was also a 3-2 scoreline, coming against Norwich City.
  • Since then they have had six matches at Villa Park without winning, although that run has included the visits of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
  • Villa have recovered 11 points from losing positions this season.
  • Having scored just three goals in seven matches between November 21 and December 26, they have since scored 12 in their next seven leading up to Sunday’s fixture.
  • Villa have won 35 times at Villa Park in the league compared to just 14 times for City, with 23 meetings ending as draws.
  • The last time City triumphed over Villa in Birmingham was a 3-1 win in 2006.
  • Several players could be facing their former club: Villa's Shay Given, Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland (pictured above) previously played for City, whose James Milner and Gareth Barry are ex-Villans.

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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
  • Aston Villa 1-3 Manchester City
    14.14 %
  • Aston Villa 0-3 Manchester City
    10.99 %
  • Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester City
    10.01 %
Head to Head
Premier League ‎(EPL)‎ 12 Feb 2012 Aston Villa 0 - Manchester City 1
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Premier League ‎(EPL)‎ 15 Oct 2011 Manchester City 4 - Aston Villa 1
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FA Cup ‎(FA)‎ 2 Mar 2011 Manchester City 3 - Aston Villa 0
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Premier League ‎(EPL)‎ 22 Jan 2011 Aston Villa 1 - Manchester City 0
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Premier League ‎(EPL)‎ 28 Dec 2010 Manchester City 4 - Aston Villa 0
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Last Five Matches
Aston Villa
13 May 2012Norwich City 2 - Aston Villa 0EPL
6 May 2012Aston Villa 1 - Tottenham 1EPL
28 Apr 2012West Bromwich 0 - Aston Villa 0EPL
24 Apr 2012Aston Villa 1 - Bolton Wanderers 2EPL
21 Apr 2012Aston Villa 0 - Sunderland 0EPL
Manchester City
13 May 2012Manchester City 3 - QPR 2EPL
6 May 2012Newcastle United 0 - Manchester City 2EPL
30 Apr 2012Manchester City 1 - Manchester United 0EPL
22 Apr 2012Wolves 0 - Manchester City 2EPL
14 Apr 2012Norwich City 1 - Manchester City 6EPL
Odds
Returns: Aston Villa £1010.00 Sportingbet Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets!
Returns: Draw £150.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Manchester City £17.30 Bet365 Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Team News
Available Squads
1Shay GivenGoalkeeper
2Alan HuttonDefender
5Richard DunneDefender
6James CollinsDefender
24Carlos Javier CuéllarDefender
12Marc AlbrightonMidfielder
19Stilian PetrovMidfielder
38Gary GardnerMidfielder
9Darren BentStriker
18Emile HeskeyStriker
10Robbie KeaneStriker
22Bradley GuzanGoalkeeper
3Stephen WarnockDefender
32Nathan BakerDefender
7Stephen IrelandMidfielder
10Charles N'ZogbiaMidfielder
25Barry BannanMidfielder
26Andreas WeimannStriker
25Joe HartGoalkeeper
4Vincent KompanyDefender
5Pablo ZabaletaDefender
6Joleon LescottDefender
13Aleksandar KolarovDefender
7James MilnerMidfielder
11Adam JohnsonMidfielder
18Gareth BarryMidfielder
21David SilvaStriker
34Nigel De JongMidfielder
16Kun AgüeroStriker
30Costel PantilimonGoalkeeper
2Micah RichardsDefender
15Stefan SavicDefender
22Gael ClichyDefender
8David PizarroMidfielder
19Samir NasriMidfielder
10Edin DzekoStriker
Prediction
Villa have finally begun to start fashioning chances, with the introduction ofloanee  Robbie Keane a real coup by Alex McLeish. But they have not closed out games well this season, and with their big-game players City should just about come through.
Editor's Prediction
Aston Villa 1
Manchester City 2
Results
ALL MATCHES >>
 
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Robin van Persie Robin van Persie
Striker
Arsenal 		30 2
Wayne Rooney Wayne Rooney
Striker
Manchester United 		27 6
Kun Agüero Kun Agüero
Striker
Manchester City 		23 3
Aiyegbeni Yakubu Aiyegbeni Yakubu
Striker
Blackburn 		17 4
Emmanuel Adebayor Emmanuel Adebayor
Striker
Tottenham 		17 3