We must be living in a parallel universe. Manchester City have just lost an eighth time in 11 matches and Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers breathing, has claimed he’s not good enough to fix their crisis.
“I’m the boss, I’m the manager, I have to find solutions but I don’t find solutions,” he said after their late, painful defeat to rivals Manchester United last week. “This is a big club and when you lose eight [out of 11 games] something is wrong. I’m the manager and I’m not good enough, simple as that. I’m not doing well. That is the truth.”
It’s understandable that a manager who has known nothing but winning and success is unable to lift his former treble winners through this sticky period. Football fans have often wondered how Guardiola would fare if you placed him in charge of a team in a relegation battle and perhaps we’re seeing he’s not cut out for the fight. This is a coach who is at his best when he’s managing superstars like Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland, with his teams in full flow. His City team have one win in 11 games. That’s not a blip. For a club like City and a manager like Guardiola, that’s a catastrophe.
The question is, when will it end? They’re now fifth in the table and closer to 10th than Liverpool in first. Aston Villa must smell blood ahead of this weekend’s clash. They should be rubbing their hands together ready to pile on the misery.
City boast tremendously gifted players and they hold the answer to their problems. Erling Haaland has just one goal in his last five league games but is one of the world’s greatest strikers on his day. Kevin De Bruyne can pick the lock of the most rigid defence with his eyes closed. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva have the ability to flip a game on its head in the blink of an eye. They all need an arm round their shoulder but their manager saying he’s not good enough to fix their problems won’t help.
Villa have suffered from their own run of stuttering form, but City’s plight means that will be mostly brushed under the carpet. They’ve won two of their last eight in the league and lost 2-1 to Nottingham Forest last week. Boss Unai Emery will still be pleased his side are seventh in the table and a victory this weekend would see the Villans leapfrog City into fifth. Villa are still waiting for their first win over a ‘big six’ opponent this season, having lost four and drawn once in those games.
Emery will need his side to summon their form from the Champions League that has seen them conquer Bayern Munich and win four games in total — putting them on course for the knockouts. Jhon Duran is a man Villa will be looking to for inspiration this weekend. He has three goals from three games and is putting team-mate Ollie Watkins to shame.
Villa will hope their rotten luck against City finally changes this weekend. They’ve lost 14 of the last 17 meetings, with just one win since 2013. It’s fair to say City are their bogey team.
The good news for City is they could get a couple of names back in the line-up. Rico Lewis returns from suspension while Manuel Akanji is fighting to be fit for the game. For Villa, Leon Bailey should be ready to come back into the team after a hamstring issue. Emery should also have Tyrone Mings available again after he pulled out of the Forest game due to illness.
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Aston Villa vs Manchester City odds
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
Time: 12:30 p.m. GMT (7:30 a.m. ET), Saturday
Streaming (US only): Fubo (try for free)
Form guide (league only)
Aston Villa: 7-4-5, 25 points (7th); L-W-W-L-D
Manchester City: 8-3-5, 27 points (5th); L-D-W-L-L
Match prediction
Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester City
This is a real opportunity for City to go into Christmas day with a smile on their faces. They have some really winnable games coming up over the festive period and they could kick off a comeback with a vital win at Villa Park. Emery’s men won’t make it easy for them but it seems only a matter of time before Guardiola’s players respond. They need it more than ever before.
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(Photo of Kevin De Bruyne: Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images)
