Aston Villa travel to the Etihad on Wednesday night hoping to do the double over Manchester City.
Just like Villa themselves, Pep Guardiola’s side have a lot riding on this game and most recently dropped points in the Premier League title race.
Arsenal recorded a 0-0 draw in Manchester over the weekend and a lot was made of their performance.
It was clear from the off that Mikel Arteta didn’t want his team to play in their old usual style, and instead, they were happy with the clean sheet, sit back and defend their defensive third.
After the game, Gary Neville praised the Gunners for their defensive performance, but seemed to forget about a certain Aston Villa.
Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City
Keeping this Man City side at bay isn’t easy. Villa did it in December thanks to a Leon Bailey winner and now Arsenal have done it in back-to-back matches.
But Neville suggested on Sky Sports that he has ‘never seen a team make it difficult for Manchester City in the final third’.
Perhaps someone needs to knock the former Manchester United man on the head!
Yes, Arsenal’s performance was outstanding and fans will only know in these coming weeks if this is a point gained or two lost.
But Unai Emery did one of the best defensive jobs on Man City in the winter. Only two shots at our goal, with the home team having 22 shots on goal.
And it needs to be noted that Villa didn’t sit back during that game! From the get-go, including when Bailey scored in the second half, the team continued to charge at Man City’s backline.
They had personnel missing then, just like they did at the weekend and Villa didn’t have a full-strength squad, unlike Arsenal.
Erling Haaland had two early efforts on goal, after that, there was nothing from the away team.
So, perhaps Neville needs to show Villa a little respect here and acknowledge that other teams exist outside of Sky’s favourite clubs.
Aston Villa at the Etihad
After Arsenal decided to sit back, it will be interesting to see what type of approach Villa take on Wednesday night against Manchester City.
We all know Emery likes to play a high line and that won’t change.
But will he go with the same attacking formation from the 2-0 win against Wolves?
Or will another defensive option be added and a possible three or five at the back formation is deployed?
Either way, this is another chance for the team to showcase its might against the champions, even with Emery having to deal with an injury-ravaged side.
