Watford have thumped Bournemouth 3-0 in the early game. It’s their fourth win in six league games under Nigel Pearson, and they are already out of the relegation zone. Scenes, and then some.
Team news
Pep Guardiola has rested a few players, including Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva. I think City will play 4-3-3 with Gabriel Jesus wide left, though most team news providers have them in a 3-4-2-1.
Villa’s formation looks like 3-5-1-1.
Aston Villa (3-5-1-1) Nyland; Ngoyo, Hause, Mings; El Mohamady, Drinkwater, Douglas Luiz, Hourihane, Taylor; Grealish; El Ghazi.
Substitutes: Kalinic, Chester, Guilbert, Lansbury, Nakamba, Trezeguet, Vassilev.
Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Joao Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy; De Bruyne, Rodri, D Silva; Mahrez, Aguero, Jesus.
Substitutes: Bravo, Walker, Otamendi, Gundogan, B Silva, Sterling, Foden.
Referee Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Now, here’s a first: it’s mid-January, and Pep Guardiola is out of the title race. That doesn’t really compute, given the absurd excellence of his Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City teams, and it will be interesting to see how he responds. Most managers would prioritise the three available cup competitions, especially the Champions League, but Pep the perfectionist prefers to win every game regardless of context. I bet he’s fun at Tiddlywinks parties.
On the face of it this means a lot more to Aston Villa, who will start the match in the relegation zone if Watford finish the job at Bournemouth. Villa have played pretty well against the big teams – nobody has come closer to beating Liverpool in the league – but don’t have many points to show for it. Yet.
Kick off is at 4.30pm.
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