Aston Villa v Manchester City Betting Tips: Can Villa stop a City threepeat?

Form

Man City came from behind to run out 2-1 winners againstReal Madrid on Wednesday night, making it three wins in a row in allcompetitions.

While they haven’t been at their imperious best this season,they still have quality running throughout their squad and on their day, they’recapable of beating anyone.

Dean Smith’s Aston Villa are on a run of three defeats andsit perilously close to the Premier League’s relegation zone after losing 2-0to Southampton last time out.

In terms of their cup runs, Aston Villa can boast some bigscalps along the way, thrashing Liverpool’s youngsters 5-0 in the quarter-finals,before besting Leicester City 3-2 on aggregate in the semis.

Man City faced League One team Oxford United in thequarter-finals, easing through with a comfortable 3-1 away win. A dominant awayperformance at rivals Manchester United in the semi-final first leg helped themto a 3-2 aggregate win.

Likely XI’s

After being replaced by Gabriel Jesus against Real Madrid,Sergio Aguero is likely to lead the line for City – he scored a hat-trick lasttime the teams met – while David Silva and Raheem Sterling could return to thestarting 11.

Aymeric Laporte is set to miss out after leaving the fieldwith a hamstring injury on Wednesday, opening the door for John Stones orNicolas Otamendi to line up alongside Fernandinho in the centre of defence.

Scottish midfielder John McGinn could make a welcome returnto the Villa side, with Dean Smith suggesting he’s close to 100%, whileyoungster Keinan Davis could also feature after recovering from hamstringinjury. Both are likely to be on the subs bench.

Long-term layoffs for Wesley Moraes, Tom Heaton and JedSteer will see them miss out on the final, while Danny Drinkwater is cup-tiedand ineligible to play.

Key Battles

Experienced stopper Pepe Reina is likely to be in goal forthe Villains after joining on loan from AC Milan. If he can help to marshal thelikes of Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause, they might be better positioned toshut their opponents out than in their January meeting.

However, Man City’s stifling style has caused better defencesto crumble under the pressure. With Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva pulling thestrings, the likes of Sterling and Riyad Mahrez are free to terrorize defenderswith their movement and skill on the ball. Aguero, as ever will rely on hispace, movement and deadly finishing to make the difference. 

Much has been said and written about the talents of Villastar Jack Grealish this season and if his side are to find any attackingsuccess in the game, it’s likely to be him pulling the strings.

City’s makeshift backline have looked vulnerable to thecounter at times and Grealish is the man capable of finding a killer ball,drawing defenders in or moving up the pitch with pace.

January signing Mbwana Ally Samatta has also shownflashes of talent in his brief time at the club and will be looking to endearhimself to the Villa faithful.

Goalscorer Odds

Aguero might be looking to prove a point having been left out against Real Madrid and can be found at 15/8 to score first, or 2/5 anytime, with two or more goals at 2/1.

Elsewhere, Jesus can be backed at 3/4 to score anytime, with Sterling at 11/10.

Samatta leads the Villa goalscoring markets at 9/2 to score anytime, with Grealish found at 5/1.

View the latest Aston Villa v Man City odds.  

All odds and markets correct as of date ofpublication