Manchester City will be looking to respond against Aston Villa on Sunday after Pep Guardiola's side suffered a disappointing defeat in their last top-flight clash.
The Blues fell to a 1-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, with Harry Kane scoring the only goal of the game. Despite this, the reigning champions will have the chance to close the gap on league-leaders Arsenal after the Gunners drew 1-1 with Brentford on Saturday.
Earlier this week, City - who currently find themselves six points behind Mikel Arteta's men - were charged with breaking financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
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Aston Villa have been much-improved since Unai Emery took charge of the team, with the Midlands outfit winning five of their last eight Premier League matches. Despite this, pundits are still backing City to come out on top when the two sides meet on Sunday.
Chris Sutton (BBC)
"At the start of the season I felt like I could predict Manchester City games with my eyes closed. Not any more. Pep Guardiola's side missed a massive chance to put the pressure on Arsenal when they lost at Tottenham last weekend. Their drop-off in form this season has not been in the same bracket as Liverpool's, but I look at them and wonder when they are going to turn the corner, performance-wise.
"There is this great debate about whether Erling Haaland has made them better or worse but I don't see him as the problem. Too many of the City players around him have seen their levels dip, and the team have not been playing at their usual tempo or with their normal slickness of passing.
"I still think they will beat Aston Villa, and I also believe Haaland will score, but it might be a slog. We know how hard Unai Emery's sides can be to break down, and they will carry a threat too.
"What should help City is that their fans will be in defiant mood after the club were hit with 100-plus charges by the Premier League at the start of the week.
"There will be a siege mentality at Etihad Stadium and that should create the kind of atmosphere that Guardiola has been asking for recently. It will be the same in the dressing room too, if the players think everyone is against them, and that should fire them up."
Sutton's prediction: City 2-0 Aston Villa
Paul Merson (Sportskeeda)
"When you play Tottenham away from home and it's a difficult game, you play your best players. Kevin De Bruyne is their best midfielder by a country mile, and I found it extraordinary that he was sitting on the bench. When you need to try and break a team down in a big game, no one does it better than De Bruyne. That decision backfired terribly against Tottenham, and I was quite shocked that he was left on the bench.
"They'll have to win this game and then concentrate on Wednesday's game against Arsenal. I was shocked by Aston Villa's result last week. Manchester City will have to win this game, and I expect them to get all three points this weekend.
Sutton's prediction: City 3-0 Aston Villa
Mark Lawrenson (Paddy Power)
"I would think there will be a Manchester City backlash coming. Their performance in that 1-0 loss to Tottenham was odd. It came on the back of Joao Cancelo going, who was City’s best full back on either side, and I’ll never understand that even if there was a falling out. It’s all a bit strange but I think they’ll get a big win here."
Sutton's prediction: City 3-0 Aston Villa
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