The latest twist in the Premier League title race saw Manchester City drop three points behind leaders Liverpool after Sunday’s goalless draw with Arsenal, which stretched their unbeaten run across all competitions to 23 games in the process (W19, D4). The last team to beat Pep Guardiola’s side and the previous before Arsenal to stop them from scoring? Next opponents Aston Villa!

Sunday’s draw was the first time that the Cityzens have failed to score at home since March 2022 against Sporting Lisbon (D 0-0) but you have to go back all the way to 2007 for the last time Villa shut them out at home. Revenge for December’s 1-0 defeat will be on their minds, and after winning each of the last eight H2Hs here, a stint that has seen them average 3.38 goals scored per game, getting their title push back on track here seems likely.

Villa kept up their pursuit of a fourth-place finish this season by routinely beating Wolves 2-0 on Saturday, but the pressure is on as they must still play each of the top three. They weren’t at their best at the weekend but returned to winning ways after a mini-slump (D1, L1) and have now won as many league games this term as they did during last season’s entire campaign (18).

The fact they are 12 points up on their 30-game haul from 2022/23 still owes plenty to their home form, but boss Unai Emery will have them set up to be hard to beat here – perhaps taking inspiration from Arsenal’s defensive performance – as they’re yet to lose a competitive away game this calendar year (W4, D4), with four of those games accompanied by a clean sheet (W1, D3).

Manchester City’s Rodri enjoys home comforts as his last three club goals all came at the Etihad Stadium, whilst he’s also netted in both of the last two home H2Hs. Individual brilliance is crucial now as City need points and victories more than ever. I expect them to step up and march towards the title starting with victory over Villa.

英超联赛冠军争夺战的最新变化是，曼城在周日0比0战平阿森纳后落后领头羊利物浦3分，这使得他们的各项赛事不败纪录延长至23场。上一支击败瓜迪奥拉的球队，上一支阻止阿森纳进球的球队是哪支?下一个对手阿斯顿维拉!

周日的平局是自2022年3月对阵里斯本竞技(D 0-0)以来，城市人首次在主场失球，但你必须回到2007年，上一次维拉在主场击败他们。为去年12月0 - 1的失利复仇将萦绕在他们的脑海中，在赢得过去8场h2h的比赛后，他们在这里的场均进球数为3.38个，他们很有可能在这里重回夺冠的轨道。

比利亚在周六以2-0击败狼队，继续追逐本赛季第四名的目标，但压力仍然很大，因为他们必须与前三名中的每一个比赛。在周末的比赛中，他们并没有处于最佳状态，但在经历了一段时间的低迷(D1, L1)后，他们又回到了胜利的道路上，并且本赛季他们赢得的联赛场次已经和上赛季整个赛季(18场)一样多。

事实上，他们在2022/23赛季的30场比赛中领先了12分，这在很大程度上要归功于他们的主场状态，但主教练乌奈·埃梅里将让他们在这里很难被击败——也许是受到了阿森纳防守表现的启发——因为他们本日历年还没有输掉一场有竞争力的客场比赛(W4, D4)，其中有四场比赛是零封对手(W1, D3)。

曼城的罗德里享受着主场的舒适，他最近的三个俱乐部进球都是在阿提哈德球场完成的，同时他也在最近两个主场的h2h中都有进球。现在曼城比以往任何时候都更需要得分和胜利，个人的出色表现至关重要。我希望他们能从战胜维拉开始向冠军迈进。