Manchester City fumbled a chance to close the gap on Arsenal last week, losing to Tottenham after the Gunners had fallen to Everton, and now the Sky Blues look to get back to winning ways.
City punctuated a tumultous week for the club with the loss at Spurs, which came a day after league-leading Arsenal had opened the door for the second-place Sky Blues to make up some ground.
The results mean City are still five points back of the north London side heading into the weekend, and Pep Guardiola's men will expect to claim all three points on Sunday from visitors Aston Villa. Villa are in 11th place but have enjoyed a good recent run of form, winning three of the four Premier League matches prior to last weekend's loss to Leicester City.
Villa manager Unai Emery knows that things won't get any easier at the Etihad, and he's expecting City to try to make a statement against his side.
“It’s a very difficult match," Emery said.
"Manchester City are building a team to win the Champions League and they are getting close to doing it.
“In the Premier League they have had amazing results over the last few years. Each year it’s Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, and this year it’s Arsenal, to be close to them.
“I’ve played against Manchester City here and in the Champions League, it’s a very difficult match. Maybe it’s going to be more difficult now with the issues they are having.
“I think they’re going to be together and they are going to try and respond on the pitch against us.”
Here's how you can watch the match.
Manchester City vs. Aston Villa: Date, time, live stream and how to watch
Streaming options listed below are for the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. For listings in your region, consult premierleague.com.
- Date: Sunday, February 12
- Kick-off time: 4:30 p.m. GMT / 11:30 a.m. ET
- Live stream: FuboTV (USA), FuboTV (Canada), Sky Sports (UK)