Aston Villa welcome Manchester City to Villa Park on Wednesday in a big clash at the top of the table. Both sides have had a strong start to the season, with a win important in the title race for either team.
Aston Villa currently sit fourth in the Premier League after 14 games. Villa have nine wins, two draws and three losses, leaving them on 29 points, one point behind Man City and four points behind top of the league Arsenal.
In their last five games in all competitions, Villa have four wins and one draw. In the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa hosted AZ Alkmaar. Though the Dutch side took the lead through Vangelis Pavlidis, goals from Diego Carlos and Ollie Watkins rescued a 2 - 1 win for Villa. Back in the Premier League, Villa faced Fulham. An Antonee Robinson own goal opened the scoring, but John McGinn and Watkins both scored to give Villa the 3 - 0 lead. Raul Jiminez did score for Fulham, but Villa held on for the 3 - 1 win.
Giovani Lo Celso gave Tottenham the early lead in the 22nd minute, but a Pau Torres goal made it level just before halftime. Watkins scored yet again for Villa to give them the 2 - 1 comeback win. In the Conference League, Villa met Legia Warszawa. Moussa Diaby scored in the fourth minute, but Ernest Muci equalised within the first half. However, Alex Moreno scored early in the second half for another 2 - 1 win for Villa.
Last time out for Villa was against Bournemouth. Antonie Semenyo scored early for Bournemouth, but Villa immediately responded through Leon Bailey. Dominic Solanke put Bournemouth back ahead but Villa’s main man Watkins came through with a goal in the 90th minute to grab a 2 - 2 draw.
Manchester City sit just a spot above Villa in third. In 14 games City have nine wins, three draws and two losses which leaves them on 30 points, one point behind Liverpool and three points behind Arsenal.
In their last five games in all competitions, City have two wins and three draws. In the Champions League, City hosted Young Boys. Erling Haaland opened the scoring with a penalty and was joined on the scoresheet by Phil Foden before halftime. Sandro Lauper was then sent off and Haaland completed his brace for the 3 - 0 win. Back in the Premier League it was an entertaining affair against Chelsea. Haaland picked up another brace, along with a goal from Manuel Akanji and a goal from Rodri but a late penalty from former City player Cole Palmer meant the game finished 4 - 4.
City then faced Liverpool the following weekend. Haaland scored yet again in the first half, but in the 80th minute Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised for Liverpool to grab the 1 - 1 draw. Lois Openda scored twice early on for RB Leipzig to give them the 2 - 0 lead at halftime. However, in the second half, Haaland, Foden and Julian Alvarez all scored to give City the 3 - 2 comeback win.
The most recent outing for City was a controversial meeting with Tottenham. Son Heung-min scored early for Tottenham and within three minutes of his first goal, he scored an own goal to bring City level. Foden then gave City the lead going into halftime, but Lo Celso equalised in the 69th minute. Jack Grealish regained the lead for City but Dejan Kulusevski equalised in the 90th minute. The game finished 3 - 3, but in controversial fashion with another questionable refereeing decision.
This week will be the 180th meeting between Aston Villa and Man City, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1899. City have the upper hand in the fixture with 80 wins in comparison to Villa’s 57 wins, with the other 42 meetings ending in a draw.