Former Celtic star Chris Sutton has backed Aston Villa to hold Manchester City to a draw when they meet in the Premier League this weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will make the trip to Villa Park on Saturday, 21st December, for their Premier League Matchday 17 clash with Aston Villa.
The Cityzens, who made history last season by becoming the first team to win four consecutive English top-flight titles, have been all over the place lately. They have lost five of their last seven games in the Premier League (1 D, 1 W), dropping from first place to fifth. In the last eight rounds, only Leicester City and Southampton have picked up fewer points than the Cityzens.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, have been in decent form lately. In their last five outings, they have won twice, drawn once, and lost twice. With 25 points to their name after 17 games, Villa sit two points and positions behind City in the rankings.
Chris Sutton Backs Aston Villa to Hold Manchester City to a Draw
Predicting the outcome of the game between Villa and City, Sutton wrote in his BBC column:
“Aston Villa are 10 points worse off than the same stage of last season, when they were in second place with 35 points from 16 games. This time, they are seventh and if you look at their results in the Premier League so far then, apart from when they saw off Fulham in October, they have only beaten teams in the bottom half of the table.
“I don’t want to call them flat-track bullies but they are only getting wins against the weaker teams. Maybe we have to put Manchester City in that bracket too at the moment, though?“
He continued:
“In terms of form over the past eight games then only Leicester and Southampton have picked up fewer points than Pep Guardiola’s side. I keep thinking they will kick back into life, but they actually seem to be getting worse. Everyone is trying to come up with the reason for their poor results – injuries or ageing players, and so on – but they are making basic errors in games and killing themselves.
“The smart move for me and anyone else making predictions would be to just back City every week now, because eventually they will come good – but I’ve not seen anything to suggest it will happen here. The only thing they won last weekend was ‘The Simulation Game’ on 606 thanks to Kyle Walker’s behaviour against Manchester United. I just hope he is all right to play this weekend.”
Sutton concluded by adding:
“So, I am certainly not going to say they will win at Villa Park, or keep a clean sheet, but then Villa have not really convinced me to back them either.”
Sutton’s prediction: 1-1
