Aston Villa Vs Manchester City Preview: Guardiola Yakin Juara Liga Inggris Lagi

Manager Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City will win the English Premier League for the fourth time (X/@ManCity).

JAKARTA - Pep Guardiola's manager jemawa said Manchester City would win the Premier League again. However, Man City will play a difficult match when they come to Aston Villa headquarters at Villa Park Stadium, Thursday, December 7, 2023, early morning WIB.

What happened to Guardiola who seemed to be shocked when Man City was under pressure. Man City, especially the manager, doesn't seem to be easy to accept criticism.

Perhaps this is the first time Man City has received criticism and pressure following a three-time draw against Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur.

Man City did not get a good schedule because they faced big six members sequentially. Meanwhile, their record when they meet big six members is not good enough.

Man City lost against Arsenal, but won 3-0 against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Only MU has a big name and no more as a media team. So, MU actually doesn't count big six and it's not difficult to beat the Red Devils even though they play at home.

Bad results in the previous three matches made Man City fail to maintain his position as ruler of the standings throne. Arsenal successfully defeated The Citizens who are also defending champions.

Now, Man City, who has dropped to third, is six points behind Arsenal who dramatically beat Luton Town 4-3, Wednesday, December 6, 2023, early morning WIB.

Man City can still close the distance between points with the Gunners. Only, they have to beat Villa who are on-fire.

The problem is, Guardiola doesn't accept criticism from football pundit Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher. He criticized back by saying that Neville had never brought the team to win the Premier League four times in a row.

Then, Guardiola also criticized Carragher, who was judged to have never won the league while still playing at Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Man City is now equal to the MU record for scoring a league champion hat trick. Now, Guardiola wants to break the record again to make it better than MU as well as realizing satire to Neville.

The former Barcelona coach has a thin ear, but he actually likes to criticize MU. According to him, MU has spent a lot of money, but has only won the Carabao Cup.

On the other hand, Man City, who spent less money, has won many trophies, including the Premier League.

Guardiola confidently said Man City would win again for the fourth time in a row. He has ambitions to break the record as the first team to win a trophy four times in a row.

"I feel we will become champions of the Premier League again. If you ask me, we will win the league. If we play at the level like against Liverpool and Tottenham, we believe we can do it again," Guardiola stressed.

"Many don't believe it after we drew three times. I know it's not easy because no team has been able to do it yet," he said again.

The former Bayern Munich coach seemed to be provoked by emotion after Man City came under pressure. Moreover, he had to defend his players who were busy protesting against referee Simon airing against Tottenham.

At that time, Man City was in a position to benefit because Jack Grealish was carrying the ball towards the Lilywhites defense.

Only, please blow the whistle. Man City players, including striker Erling Haaland, Mateo Kovacic, and Ruben Dias, immediately surrounded the referee to protest.

In fact, Haaland was recorded with pictures and videos looking so emotional when protesting against the referee.

He then expressed insults on social media after the match. Haaland's actions put him under sanctions from the FA for violating the rules.

According to Guardiola, what Haaland and colleagues did was nothing more than emotional for a moment.

"I want to ask anyone, how should we take a reaction to such a situation? Such a reaction is just an instinct," said Guardiola, who accused the FA of only wanting to punish Man City.

"They just want to punish (Man City). And we are punished. I make sure if it happens to you as a player, you will also react the same," he said.

"Of course I say players must respect the referee. However, it was only a moment of emotion," said Gurdiola again.

Now, Guardiola must forget the small commotion and focus on fighting Villa. Moreover, Man City lost two pillar players, Grealish and Rodri, due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

While winger Jeremy Doku suffered a leg injury, it is also doubtful to appear. Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is still recovering from a hamstring injury.

Rodri's position will be replaced by Kovacic who plays a deep-lying midfielder with Manuel Akanji. Meanwhile, Rico Lewis may fill Doku's position.

Villa are chasing their fourth win at home to Man City. They also have a perfect record at home. Yes, Unai Emery's team won all home games.

Hanya, Villa bakal menghadapi lawan tak mudah kali ini. Man City mengajukan kemenangan demi memulihkan kepercayaan pemain.

Player Composition Forecast

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Kamara, Luiz, McGinn; Diaby, Watkins

Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake; Akanji, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Bernardo, Doku; Haaland