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“They have been the best team for the last years in the Premier League and now maybe they are not being consistent for different circumstances. But they are the best and the coach is the best.
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“To be consistent like they are is difficult. They were successful over the last few years and being consistent in everything. They have time to be a winner again in this competition.”
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“I handle the good moments – I handle good the bad moments,” said Manchester City’s manager in his pre-match press conference. “I have had bad ones in my career as a manager but we were able to come back and now it takes longer.
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“I take experience with that. I have had 40 days of bad days in terms of results. That is the truth when you compare to eight years which is much better. There have been eight years of incredible [results] And now we have a period of 40-45 days [bad results].
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“I'm fine. I'm a normal human being with emotions just like you. We're better when things are going well, but we're better when things aren't going well professionally. I am. [focused] About what we have to do. ”
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Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Duran
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Substitutes: Bogarde, Buendia, Barkley, Watkins, Mings, Maatsen, Nedeljkovic, Bailey, Olsen
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Manchester City: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
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Subs: Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Savinho, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee
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Well, now. With team confidence at rock bottom after just one win in their past 11 (eleven!) games in all competitions, Manchester CIty travel to Villa Park hoping to electro-shock their flatlining title hopes back into life with a much-needed victory.
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It’s a match few expect them to win given their current abysmal form but their hosts are unlikely to take today’s task lightly, having emerged from a mini-slump of their own before hitting the canvas courtesy of two late sucker-punches from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga in their match against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Kick-off at Villa Park is at 12.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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main events
Unai Emery: “Very good test”
“It's a very tough and very exciting game,” the Villa manager said. “Playing Manchester City at home is a big motivation for us, it's a very good test.
“They've been the best team in the Premier League for the last few years, but maybe they're not as consistent right now because of the different circumstances, but they're the best and they have the best coach.
“It's hard to be consistent like them. They've been successful the last few years and they've been consistent in everything. They have time to be winners in this competition again.”
Pep Guardiola: “I'm fine''
“We deal with the good times and we deal with the bad times,” the Manchester City manager said in his pre-match press conference. “I had some bad times in my coaching career but I was able to bounce back and it took me more time now.
“I have experience with it. When it comes to results, 40 bad days in a row. The truth is, compared to eight years, it's much better. Eight incredible years. there were [results] And now we have a period of 40-45 days [bad results].
“I'm fine. I'm a normal human being with emotions just like you. We're better when things are going well, but we're better when things aren't going well professionally. I am. [focused] About what we have to do. ”
Those teams: Along with Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins will have to manage to sit on Villa's bench, with John Duran starting ahead of him. Amadou Onana started in midfield and Diego Carlos came on as a substitute.
Manager Josep Guardiola made six changes to his starting XI from last weekend's game against Manchester United, with Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne among the notable absentees.
Ederson failed a fitness test and was replaced by Stefan Ortega, while Jack Grealish made a rare start for the Champions against his former club.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City lineup
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Tielemans, Rodgers, Duran.
Substitute: Bogarde, Buendia, Barkley, Watkins, Mings, Maassen, Nedeljkovic, Bailey, Olsen.
Manchester City: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish, Haaland.
Sub: Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Sabinho, Simpson Pusey, O'Reilly, McAtee.
Today's match officials
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Referee: Peter Banks.
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assistant: Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh.
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Fourth official: Andy Madrid.
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VAR: Darren England.
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Assistant VAR: Darren Kang.
early team news
The big news from City's camp is that Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake have joined long-term absentees Oscar Bobb and Rodri on the sidelines, but manager Josep Guardiola has confirmed that both are fit. This means that John Stones and Mateo Kovacic, who have been reported to be available, could be called up. You can choose. Rico Ruiz also returned from suspension, but Ederson's availability is in doubt.
Villa striker Ollie Watkins has recovered from injury but will have to make a spot on the bench if in-form John Duran is granted a move from Unai Emery first. Leon Bailey has returned from a brief injury absence, but Jacob Ramsey remains sidelined.
Premier League: Aston Villa v Man City
Well, come on. With the team's confidence at rock bottom after only one win in all competitions in the past 11 games (11 games!), Manchester City are hoping to revive their title drought with a long-awaited victory, and are hoping to revive their stagnant title winning streak.・Head to the park.
It's a game that few expect to win given their current poor form, but the hosts are unlikely to take today's challenge lightly. Thanks to two late sucker punches from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony, he bounced back from his own mini-slump and arrived on the canvas. Elanga in last weekend's match against Nottingham Forest. Kick-off at Villa Park is at 12:30pm GMT, but in the meantime keep an eye out for team news and updates.
