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Manchester City travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend, with the visitors looking to keep in touch with Arsenal at the top of the table (2pm, Sky Sports Main Event). Pep Guardiola’s side sit in second after eight games and are just three points off the Gunners, with Liverpool’s recent poor form suggesting that City and Arsenal could resume their title rivalry later into 2025/26. In fact, betting sites have cut City’s Premier League winner odds, and though 10/3 suggests they’re some way off Arsenal (currently odds-on), a title charge led by the in-form Erling Haaland cannot be discounted at this early stage. Conversely, Villa had one of the worst starts to the season across the league, failing to register a single goal in their first four league matches, though Unai Emery’s men have since steadied the ship with three straight league wins (and two in Europe), the latest of which was last weekend’s 2-1 win over Tottenham in London. However, the Villans lost to Dutch minnows Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League in midweek, demonstrating that while there’s been an upturn in form, Emery’s side are still capable of both brilliance and disappointment within just a few days of each other. Form like this is perhaps why City are such strong favourites with football betting sites, with the current Premier League odds showing City as odds-on for victory at Villa Park. Losses to Spurs and Brighton threatened to derail City’s league campaign early on, but once again Guardiola seems to have steadied the ship at the Etihad, and each game is now offering more and more evidence that the Spaniard has ‘figured it out’. City seem to have altered the possession-focused style of previous campaigns while adding a new dimension of directness in attack, and it’s already hurt plenty of teams, including Arsenal and Manchester United. Whether it is sustainable enough to win a league remains the question, but for now it is working well as teams try and adapt to playing a new-look City. Guardiola’s side have won four of their last five games – drawing the other one in Europe against Monaco – and have scored 12 and conceded just three in that time, all while keeping clean sheets in their last three outings. And though City have regained form and are deservedly the favourites in this one, they face a Villa side who have won four of their last five too – losing in midweek in the Europa League – while scoring 10 and conceding seven. However, they have only kept one clean sheet in that time – away to Feyenoord – and only have two clean sheets in the league all season, so it feels unlikely that they’ll shut out Haaland and co. In addition, Villa toiled in attack despite beating Spurs, with their goals coming from superb moments of quality rather than sustained strong attacking play.. Overall, it seems like this match has just arrived at the wrong time for Villa and the right time for the Cityzens, and while we can’t see Villa keeping out the visitors, we could see City keeping a clean sheet at Villa Park. With that in mind, though Premier League betting sites seem to think both teams to score is slightly more likely (at 8/11) we’re going with a win and a clean sheet for Guardiola’s side. Aston Villa vs Manchester City prediction 1: Manchester City to win to nil - 12/5 Bet365 This is not the City of past campaigns, and while their defence is far more susceptible in some parts, their attack is no less devastating despite being markedly different. Much of this is due to the threat of Haaland. While the striker needed no time to adapt to the Premier League, there has long been an idea that, despite their success, the team was not playing to the strengths of the Norwegian. That is no longer the case, with City’s most recent evolution making them far more direct when needed, and Haaland has been the main beneficiary in this change of style. In fact, he is currently putting up numbers that are even more devastating than his record-breaking Premier League golden boot win in his debut season, with 11 goals in eight appearances in the league so far. Overall, Haaland has 15 goals in 11 appearances across all competitions, and has only failed to score in one City game so far – that 2-0 loss to Spurs back on 23 August. It may seem impossible to keep recording those sorts of numbers but we certainly wouldn’t recommend betting against the 25-year-old, especially considering that almost all of City’s attacking play involves him in some way (a sentiment backed up by the stats, which show that Haaland has 11 of the club’s 17 goals so far this season). All in all, it’s as simple as this: Haaland has scored in each of his last nine games – with 13 goals across that span – and we think the Norwegian will find the net against Villa on Sunday too. Aston Villa vs Manchester City prediction 2: Erling Haaland to score anytime - 4/5 Ladbrokes If you’re having a bet on Aston Villa vs Manchester City, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling. Betting can be addictive, and it’s important to stay in control of your gambling, whether you’re using online bookies, casino sites, slot sites, bingo sites or any other gambling platform. Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop. Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control. Try not to get carried away by free bet offers or casino bonuses, which are widely available on gambling apps. 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