Key events
Second half: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City
46 min: Play resumes, with Kyle Walker on for John Stones in the City defence. A tactical switch or an injury to Stones? There’s no word at the moment but we’ll probably find out later.
An email: “Amazing tactical genius from Emery to unlock this City defence by *checks notes* just running past them,” writes Andy Bradshaw. “Merry Christmas all.”
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City
Peep! Referee Peter Bankes brings the half to a close, prompting a minor set-to between Emi Martinez and Jack Grealish. The Villa goalkeeper gets booked, with his side leading courtesy of Jhon Duran’s opener. It’s been a good game so far and Manchester City are far from out of it.
45 min: A decent Villa counter-attack breaks down when John McGinn is unable to control a lofted pass from Rogers with sufficient speed to get a shot away. It’s half-time.
44 min: It’s been a game of very few stoppages so far, so we’re unlikely to have too much added time at the end of this half.
43 min: City break forward and Jack Grealish curls a cross into the Villa penalty area. Josko Gvardiol gets a touch on the ball but is unable to steer it past the advancing Martinez. He should have scored!
41 min: Haaland picks out Foden on the edge of the Villa penalty area but Pau Torres relieves the Englishman of possession before he can get the ball under control.
40 min: Boubacar Kamara challenges Foden in the middle of the park and wins the ball, breaking up what looked like a promising City counter-attack.
38 min: Pau Torres gets himself in a pickle, dawdling on the ball in his own penalty area under intense pressure from Haaland. He just about manages to hack the ball clear.
37 min: It’s been coming and he can’t say he wasn’t warned. Matty Cash gets booked for another ill-advised lunge on Jack Grealish.
36 min: Villa break upfield from a corner but a promising moves breaks down when John McGinn pickls the wrong pass. If anything Clive, he had too many options.
35 min: Lewis and Foden combine well down the inside right, with the latter bringing a smart save out of Martinez with his low diagonal effort.
34 min: With the ball at his feet on the edge of the centre-circle, Rico Lewis surveys his options, realises he doesn’t have many and plays a short sideways pass to Mateo Kovacic.
33 min: Grealish plays a nice defence-splitting pass from deep to Foden, who is crowded off the ball on the edge of the Villa penalty area.
32 min: Amadou Onana concedes another free-kick near the halfway line and City set about trying to break down the Villa defence again. “They have nowhere to go except wide,” says Ally.
31 min: Grealish sends a cross into the Villa penalty area, trying to pick out Erling Haaland. His delivery is nodded clear by Digne.
29 min: “It’s as big a fall-off from a top team as I can ever remember,” says super Ally McCoist, who is on co-comms duty with TNT Sports. No prizes for guessing which side he’s talking about.
27 min: Erling Haaland is penalised for a push on Ezri Konsa as Emi Martinez dashes off his line to dive on and smother a loose ball in his penalty area.
26 min: City get the ball wide to Grealish again, continuing a recurring theme in this game. He’s forced to play it back inside to Gvardiol, what with there being no other options available. Villa are maintaining an impressively rigid defensive shape.
23 min: Jack Grealish cuts inside Cash and tries to bend another shot inside the far post. His effort is deflected out for a throw-in deep in Villa territory.
22 min: Bernardo Silva takes on and beats Lucas Digne down the right wing but is forced backwards by Morgan Rogers, who rushes to give his teammate some assitance.
20 min: Villa have had 22% of the possession thus far but have had five attempts on goal compared to City’s two.
19 min: That was very unselfish from Rogers, who could have shot himself having been put clean through on goal by that beautifully weighted pass from Tielemans, but elected to give Dhuran the opportunity to increase his goal tally instead.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Man City (Dhuran 16)
Villa lead! Morgan Rogers gives Kjovacic the slip and runs on to a wonderful through ball from Tielemans and bears down on goal. With Ortega looming large, he slips the ball a few yards sideways to John Dhuran, who slots past the City goalkeeper.
15 min: Matty Cash gets a ticking-0ff from the referee after clattering through the back of Grealish. Peter Bankes keeps his yellow card in his pocket for now.
14 min: Having survived their very early wobble, Manchester City are dominating possession and looking more likely to score. Grealish tries to wriggle past Matty Cash en route to the edge of the six-yard box but is unable to get the better of his former teammate.
12 min: Grealish pulls a pass back towards Kovacic from the byline. The City midfielder shapes to curl the ball into the penalty area towards the far post but then shoots instead. Martinez isn’t fooled and saves comfortably.
11 min: Another free-kick for City, with Amadou Onana the trangressdor on this occasion. Gundogan’s ball into the Villa box is headed out for a corner by Morgan Rogers. The inswinger is cleared.
9 min: Phil Foden curls the dead ball into the Villa penalty area, where it’s cleared by the combined forces of Pau Torres and Jhon Duran.
9 min: Grealish draws a free-kick in a wide area on the left from Matty Cash.
8 min: Villa take a throw-in and the ball is chucked towards Dhuran. Unmarked, he shoots on the turn with his first touch but is unable to lift the ball over Ortega from distance.
6 min: Villa break forward on the counter and John McGinn tries to curl the ball across the face of goal in a bid to pick out Jhon Duran. Facing his own goal, Manuel Akanji stretches out a leg to make a crucial interception.
5 min: Jack Grealish cuts in from the left and tries to curl a shot past Emi Martinez. Wide. It’s been a frantic start.
4 min: It’s been some start from Villa, who should have been in front after 20 seconds but for an uncharacteristically poor effort from John Dhuran. He probably should have advanced a little further on goal before shooting.
2 min: Villa almost score from the corner, with Ortega performing heroics to keep Pau Torres’ header from crossing the line. Erling Haaland hacks the ball clear.
Aston Villa v Manchester City is go …
1 min: City get the ball rolling but Villa relieve them of possession as John McGinn robs Josko Gvardiol of about 10 yards outside his own box. He slips it forward to Jhon Duran, who is clean through on goal but has his low shot saved by Stefan Ortega. Corner for Villa.
Not long now: John McGinn and Bernardo Silva lead their teams out on to the Villa Park pitch ahead of the last of the pre-match niceties. Kick-off in a match that is incredibly difficult to call is just a couple of minutes away.
Manuel Akanji: “With the many games we have there is always another opportunity,” says the Manchester City defender in an interview with TNT Sports. “We come here and will try to get the three points.
“A few more training sessions in a time like this is good. We can speak about the things we can improve. We are determined and nobody likes losing. We really want to turn this around and I hope we can do that today.”
Unai Emery: “It is a very good test”
“It’s a very tough and very exciting match,” said Villa’s manager. “Playing Manchester City at home is great motivation for us. It is a very good test.
“They have been the best team for the last years in the Premier League and now maybe they are not being consistent for different circumstances. But they are the best and the coach is the best.
“To be consistent like they are is difficult. They were successful over the last few years and being consistent in everything. They have time to be a winner again in this competition.”
Pep Guardiola: “I am fine”
“I handle the good moments – I handle good the bad moments,” said Manchester City’s manager in his pre-match press conference. “I have had bad ones in my career as a manager but we were able to come back and now it takes longer.
“I take experience with that. I have had 40 days of bad days in terms of results. That is the truth when you compare to eight years which is much better. There have been eight years of incredible [results] and now we have 40-45 days of [bad results].
“I am fine. I am a normal person with feelings like all of us. When a situation is going well, we are better and when it is not going well professionally, we are more [focused] on what we have to do.”
Those teams: Along with Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins has to make do with a place on the Villa bench, with Jhon Duran starting ahead of him. Amadou Onana starts in midfield, with Diego Carlos dropping out.
Pep Guardiola makes six changes to the team that started against Manchester United last weekend, with Kyle Walker and Kevin de Bruyne among the notable absentees.
Ederson has failed a fitness test and is replaced by Stefan Ortega, while Jack Grealish gets a rare start for the champions against his former club.
Aston Villa v Manchester City line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Duran
Substitutes: Bogarde, Buendia, Barkley, Watkins, Mings, Maatsen, Nedeljkovic, Bailey, Olsen
Manchester City: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Savinho, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Peter Bankes.
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Assistants: Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh.
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Fourth official: Andy Madley.
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VAR: Darren England.
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Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
Early team news
The big news from the City camp is that Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake have joined long-term absentees Oscar Bobb and Rodri on the sidelines, but Pep Guardiola will be able to call on John Stones and Mateo Kovacic, who are both reported to be fit and available for selection. Rico Lewis is also back from suspension, but Ederson’s participation is in doubt.
Villa striker Ollie Watkins has recovered from injury but will have to settle for a place on the bench if the in-form Jhon Duran gets the nod from Unai Emery ahead of him. Leon Bailey is back from a short spell out with injury but Jacob Ramsey remains out.
Premier League: Aston Villa v Man City
Well, now. With team confidence at rock bottom after just one win in their past 11 (eleven!) games in all competitions, Manchester CIty travel to Villa Park hoping to electro-shock their flatlining title hopes back into life with a much-needed victory.
It’s a match few expect them to win given their current abysmal form but their hosts are unlikely to take today’s task lightly, having emerged from a mini-slump of their own before hitting the canvas courtesy of two late sucker-punches from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga in their match against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Kick-off at Villa Park is at 12.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.