Manchester City v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[nornironvillain]

i can see an absolute horsing here for us

we have a terrible record v citeh even when they played at maine road and were rubbish

4-0

[Des Little]

They'll be all over us like a Mark One suit.  5-1.

[Total knob-head]

Don't see the negativity for this myself.

City aren't playing well, Benteke, Vlaar and Wiemann aren't doing too badly. 2-1 Villa.

[Five Villa Tattoos]

2-0 to the Villa, like a torpedo and Olney with the goals.

[ACVilla]

A 5-0 home win. They will blitz us with three early goals, 4-0 just after half time then a sending off for us (Vlaar) and a penalty for them.

[Simon Ward]

I love the positivity of this thread

[Chipsticks]

Hart's made a few clangers in his last two games and we're playing well. Why can't we go there and get a result?

[Merv]

It won't be easy, but we won there a few weeks ago (I know not City's strongest team, before that gets pointed out) so at the very least we shouldn't be fearful. City don't exactly look faultless at the moment, so.... I'm feeling pretty positive we can get something from this.

[supertommykN'iba]

2-1 Villa, Bannan with a 1st half penalty, Benteke on the counter late on before Balotelli fires a late consolation.

[silhillvilla]

Does Bannan take out pens ? When was out last pen ? QPR away?

[Chipsticks]

Does Bannan take out pens ? When was out last pen ? QPR away?

I'd imagine Bannan takes them if Bent's not on the pitch, but for all we know one of our new signings could be good at penalties. I could imagine Vlaar being a beast at them.

[PeterWithesShin]

Christian Benteke insists Villa will be fully focused on Saturday's big clash with Manchester City - and not looking back nostalgically to the cup win.

Villa defeated City 4-2 in the Capital One Cup third round two months ago, with the giant forward playing a key role in the wonderful win.

But Benteke is a firm believer that you can only influence the present moment - and you don't draw anything positive from looking back in life.

He says Villa will be "really motivated" on the here and now as they head to the Etihad Stadium clash this weekend.

He said: "They will try to beat us because they are pushing for the title and also because we eliminated them from the cup. But we are motivated for the game too.

"We are motivated for every game. It doesn't matter whether it's Manchester United, Manchester City, anyone, we are going out to try and get a good result.

"The cup tie won't have any bearing on this match. In football, you have to concentrate on the present - not the past or the future.

"All you can affect is the present moment. We are totally focused on this match, not looking back at the cup win."

Benteke looks set to come up against Belgium pal Vincent Kompany in the game but he says friendship goes out of the window.

He added: "It will be good to come up against Vincent, who I play with for Belgium.

"He is a brilliant central-defender, one of the very best in the Premier League.

"I am looking forward to playing against him. There won't be any texting before the game though. I am focused on the game for Villa."

[silhillvilla]

Does Bannan take out pens ? When was out last pen ? QPR away?

I'd imagine Bannan takes them if Bent's not on the pitch, but for all we know one of our new signings could be good at penalties. I could imagine Vlaar being a beast at them.

As long as its not KEA, he'd probably nudge it sideways then fall over.

[Mazrim]

I can honestly see us nicking a draw or better if we keep it tight for the first hour. They'll start feeling the pressure and come at us leaving some gaps.
Of course, a good beating wouldn't be shock of the century either.

It won't be 0-0 anyway.

[Clampy]

I feel a bit more confident than i normally do when we play them up there. Whether that's because we beat them in the cup or because they only seem to win games latley when they bring Dzeko on, i don't know. I saw the highlights of their game against the Albion a few weeks back and the stripeyfilth should have won it easily. It's a good time to play them me thinks.