Joey Barton has the chance to quickly atone for his mistake in an otherwise faultless display but ultimately cost City at least a point. The biased and useless Rob Styles however did not help the matter.
Nutter or Genius?
Stuart Pearce on Martin O’Neil and Villa;
“He`s done wonders there,” says Pearce. “They were stumbling along last season but Martin is a fantastic manager and is very well respected within the game. They have had a great start to the season.
Lately they have slowed down a little bit but in the main they have played extremely well this season.”
I`ve never worked under Martin, but from the outside you would say that man-management is the key. Tim Flowers here worked for him at Leicester and says how good he was at that, but you have to be tactically aware. He`s given young players the opportunity since he came to Villa, so all things considered with his track record he looks like a great appointment from Aston Villa`s point of view.”
On any given day you might say that he`s a nutter or a genius, but you could say that about people in many professions. The man who probably taught Martin his trade was Brian Clough, and you could certainly say that about him.”
Aston Villa Team News:
Apart from Thomas Sorenson and Chris Sutton(knee), Villa look to be at full strength and apart from Lee Hendrie and Patrik Berger who are both on loan at the in form Stoke Martin O’Neil has a full squad to select from.
Player to watch: Gareth Barry
Had he been wearing a Chelsea, Arsenal Liverpool shirt etc he would surely be an England regular.
Manchester City Team News:
Stuart Pearce looks to name an unchanged team to the one that narrowly tasted defeat at Anfield at the weekend. He now also has the midfield services of Hamman, Dabo and Beasley to call on. That is good news for Darius Vassell who scored 4 times against Villa last season.
Player to watch: Hatem Trabelsi
He continues to improve with every game and it cannot be long before he gets himself on the scoring charts.
Easy Villa Park
You have to go back to the beginning of the 02/3 season to see a Villa victory against City since their return to the premiership under Kevin Keegan. Since then we have beaten them 6 times and drawn once. A mighty 19 points from 24 from our return and Villa fans must be praying for that trend to change. Villa park is also the scene of City’s last away victory some 18 league games ago for the blues.
Ref Watch:
Mike Dean – a very fair ref and his last outing in a City game was the home 3-2 victory over Charlton Athletic where he showed his quality by keeping his cards in his pocket for both sides.
Match Prediction:
City’s unbeaten run against Villa to continue. City to win 1-0.
Next Fixtures:
Watford at home on Monday 4th December on Sky with 8pm kick off.