Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has labelled Aston Villa as the "favourites" for Saturday lunchtime's Premier League clash between the two teams at Villa Park.
Pep Guardiola's side enter this contest on the back of throwing away a one-goal lead in the dying embers of last weekend's Manchester derby to lose 2-1 at home to bitter rivals Manchester United.
The Citizens have now lost eight of their last 11 games across all competitions, including five defeats in their last seven Premier League matches, while no team has fewer points per game in the top flight than the reigning champions (0.57) since the beginning of November.
Man City's quest for a record fifth successive Premier League title is surely over now, as they sit fifth in the table and nine points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more, while they could fall to as low as ninth if they lose to seventh-placed Villa and other results also go against them this weekend.
Guardiola and co will be keen to avoid a repeat of their last visit to Villa Park in December 2023 when they were outplayed by Unai Emery's men, who fully deserved to pick up all three points in a 1-0 victory.
Taking into account Man City's current form and their painful collapse against Man United last time out, McInerney is struggling to envisage Guardiola's team coming out on top on Saturday.
'Guardiola could cook up something entirely new and different'
"I don't see City winning it right now," McInerney told Sports Mole. "They can, but I don't see City winning it. [Villa] have an energetic, powerful midfield. Morgan Rogers is going to run through City, John McGinn is going to run through City, but most teams now that are organised and have pace and physicality are going to run through City.
"The main reason I feel this is going to be difficult is that I just think City are going to be in a really bad place after that derby loss. It was just too much.
"I've been pretty positive that City will bounce back and now I'm hoping they do, not expecting they do. I have to stare it in the face and look at what it is and call a spade a spade. This City side is struggling and I'd be amazed if they can recover mentally."
McInerney has acknowledged the fact that Man City have a few extra days to prepare for their trip to Villa, with no midweek fixture pencilled into their diaries, and has suggested that Guardiola may look to experiment in a bid to turn the club's fortunes around.
"City have got a week (to prepare for Saturday's game) so there's a bit of time in the training ground for once, which is rare," said McInerney. "Pep's had his nadir, his lowest moment as Manchester City manager, lowest moment as a football manager full stop.
"It could be that he uses this week to just cook up something entirely new and different. He's going to have to because Aston Villa - I know they haven't been great (recently), not quite at the levels of last season - can beat Man City, anyone can beat Man City right now. They could jump ahead of Man City if they beat us.
© Imago
McInerney: 'Aston Villa are the favourites'
"I would expect Villa to beat Man City right now and I feel they'll be looking at it and going 'we should win that'. It's wild to say this, but based on form, Villa should be beating Manchester City, and it's at home for them.
"They are the favourites in this game, in my personal opinion. Unless Pep has something drastic, I don't see how they turn this around for that game."
McInerney believes that Aston Villa have a plethora of players, including their top scorer Jhon Duran, who can "cause City trouble" on Saturday.
"Duran is absolutely the kind of guy that's going to score from 20 yards against City, he's easily going to do it," he added. "They're an organised team, they've got quality defenders in [Pau] Torres and [Ezri] Konsa.
"They've got a good, experienced shield in front of them in [Youri] Tielemans, [Boubacar] Kamara is a good player, they've got [Amadou] Onana as well, so much physicality there.
"Ollie Watkins [too]. They're in such a good place...all of those players will cause City trouble as this City side is just not fit to deal with them right now."
Man City may have lost their last visit to Villa Park, but they did beat Emery's side 4-1 at the Etihad in their most recent meeting in April, courtesy of a hat-trick from Phil Foden who is still searching for his first Premier League goal of this season.
Oliver Thomas
