“My feeling today is that we are going to win the Premier League. If we play the levels like we did against Liverpool and Tottenham, we are going to win it again“ said Pep Guardiola ahead or the Aston Villa. And he was probably right. But his problem was that the players didn’t play tonight like against the Reds and the Spurs and they lost 1-0. What’s worse, they were outmuscled, outplayed and surpassed at the Premier League table by Unai Emery’s Villa. The hosts are total hit in the league right now, they are the Newcastle United of the year 2023 and they are playing fantastic. In fact, Guardiola should thank Ederson in the locker room after the match for saving his teammates from a bigger defeat.13 – Aston Villa have had 13 shots against Manchester City at the break – the most ever faced by a Pep Guardiola team in the first half of a match in Europe’s big five leagues (tonight being his 535th such game). Creaking. pic.twitter.com/cnulyXEYZq— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 6, 2023 Unai Emery not only guided his team perfectly to this win, but he also won on a personal note, as this was his 14th attempt to defeat Pep Guardiola and he finally made it. As Ederson was the savior for the guests, Leon Bailey was the unsolved puzzle for City players. He was all over the place and eventually scored a well deserved winning goal in the 74th minute. Villa had numerous chances to score before, but also after Bailey’s goal, but they were either unlucky (Douglas Luis hit the bar) or Ederson was there to save the day.Villa won it’s 14th home game in a row but the main impression of the game is the way they dominated againts City. It was a great performance with 29 shots, seven of which were on target and there wasn’t any part of the game in which the Citizens looked more dangerous. When they had their few chances, Dibo Martinez was there to save it (two shots from Haaland in the space of 10 seconds). After three Premier League consective draws (Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham), City have now lost their third game of the season and are without a win in four consecutive league matches. Needles to mention, Rodri was not playing in this game, which rose the number of defeats without him to five in total.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 15TuesdayWolverhampton – Burnley 1-0 (1-0)/Hwang 42/Luton – Arsenal 3-4 (1-2)/Osho 25, Adebayo 50, Barkley 57 – Martinelli 20, Jesus 45, Havertz 60, Rice 90+7/WednesdayBrighton – Brentford 2-1 (1-1)/Mbeumo 27 pen, Hinshelwood 53 – Gross 31/Fulham – Nott.Forest 5-0 (2-0)/Iwobi 30, 74, Jimenez 34, 55, Cairney 86/Sheffield Utd – Liverpool 0-2 (0-1)/van Dijk 37, Szoboszlai 90+4/Crystal Palace – Bournemouth 0-2 (0-1)/Senesi 25, Moore 90+1/Aston Villa – Man.City 1-0 (0-0)/Bailey 74/Man.Utd. – Chelsea 2-1 (1-1)/McTominay 19, 70 – Palmer 45/Thursday22:30: (3.15) Everton (3.45) Newcastle (2.40)23:15: (1.80) Tottenham (3.90) West Ham (4.70)***odds are subject to change***
