Aston Villa vs Man City Prediction and Betting Tips: 21/04/2021

Aston Villa vs Man City Prediction, Preview, Team News and Betting Tips

Aston Villa vs Man City Premier League

Securing European football now looks unlikely for Aston Villa, who sit outside the top ten after winning just one of their previous six Premier League (PL) matches (D2, L3). Those encounters often sprung into life late on, with eight of 12 goals scored/conceded arriving after the 60th minute. That includes conceding a 91st minute winner last time out – the 22nd time Villa have lost a PL game after conceding in the 90th minute or later!

 

Whilst boasting a decent PL goal average of 1.43 per game this season, one of Villa’s recent struggles has been scoring, and that average has plummeted to just 0.88 across their previous eight PL games. They’ve also scored over 1.5 goals just once at home since the start of February (W2, D1, L3), although that came in their most recent Villa Park fixture.

 

For Manchester City, it’s all about taking one step closer to the league title, yet they enter this match after losing two of their previous three competitive matches for the first time this season (W1). They conceded the opener in all three fixtures and trailed at HT twice, although they’ve been losing at the break in just two of their 15 PL away games this term (HT: W8, D5).

 

Conceding first has been rare on the road, highlighted by the fact City’s total of 12 away opening goals scored is a joint league-high. Four of their previous five such goals arrived inside the 15 minutes either side of HT, and as part of a nine-game away winning league run.

 

Players to score: Ollie Watkins has scored 27.91% of Villa’s PL goals, and each of his previous four was his side’s last of the game. City’s Gabriel Jesus has scored three goals across his previous six PL away matches – two arrived after HT.

 

Hot stat: Nineteen of Villa’s last 21 PL games have either been 0-0 or 1-0 (either way) at HT.

 

Prediction: Aston Villa [1] vs [3] Man City