Manchester City will be looking to continue their incredible goalscoring form on Saturday, as they face a struggling Aston Villa side in the Premier League.
Following a 4-2 win over Crystal Palace, City defeated Nottingham Forest 6-0 at the Etihad in their last outing, with Erling Haaland scoring back-to-back hat tricks. The Norwegian striker is now on nine league goals for the season, while fellow new signing Julian Alvarez scored two on his first start for the club.
Only behind Arsenal in the Premier League table, Pep Guardiola will be hoping to continue their fantastic form against Aston Villa, with Steven Gerrard's side sitting 19th in the table. The last meeting between these two sides saw City come from two goals behind to win 3-2 and clinch the Premier League title on the final day of last season.
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Jack Grealish and Nathan Ake have both returned to training, but the duo may not be risked on the weekend. Kalvin Phillips and Aymeric Laporte are both guaranteed to be missing, while deadline day signing Manuel Akanji is available for selection.
We predict that Villa could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz; Bailey, Watkins, Coutinho.
We predict that City could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva; Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden.
With the first chance of the game, Aston Villa took a shock lead, with Ollie Watkins racing through on goal and slotting past Ederson just two minutes in. Villa did well to limit City to just a couple of chances and take their lead into half-time, but Alvarez grabbed the equaliser just after the hour mark.
Kevin De Bruyne picked up possession in midfield and spotted the run of Alvarez through the middle. The Belgian played a perfectly weighted through ball for the striker, and the Argentine drilled past Emi Martinez to make it 1-1.
After the goal, Man City brought on Haaland for Riyad Mahrez, moving Alvarez out to the right. Just minutes after being introduced, the Norwegian handed City the lead.
Phil Foden cut inside from the left and looked certain to shoot, but the winger unselfishly played the ball into the box to the feet of Haaland. Under pressure from the Villa defence, Haaland shot first time, nestling his effort into the bottom corner.
It was a quick turnaround from City, and Villa started to push forward in numbers as they desperately searched for an equaliser. But, City punished the home side as they left space at the back, and Haaland scored again with a couple of minutes remaining to open up a two-goal gap.
Joao Cancelo played Foden down the left, and City charged forward in numbers as they outnumbered the Villa defenders. As Foden approached the box, he spotted the run of Haaland, and the striker latched onto the cross to tap past the 'keeper and make it 3-1.
The 22-year-old made a fantastic run across Tyrone Mings before firing into the net. Leon Bailey pulled a goal back for Villa in added time, but the hosts couldn't find a third as City claimed all three points.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Aston Villa 2-3 Man City
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that Erling Haaland could prove the City hero once again, this time coming off the bench to score twice and help City to a narrow 3-2 win. The simulation predicted that City could concede more than two goals in a game for the third time this season, but their incredible goalscoring form meant that it didn't matter in the end.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
