Michael Owen predicts final day result between Aston Villa and Manchester City
Former England striker Michael Owen has predicted the outcome of the final-day clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City.
With the Villans’ opponents in a head-to-head battle for the Premier League title against Liverpool, if Steven Gerrard’s men can get a result it could mean he delivers the trophy to Anfield.
Aside from the implications for Pep Guardiola’s side, if results go their way Villa could climb into the top half of the table and finish as high as 10th with a win, but Owen doesn’t expect that to happen and predicts a 3-1 home win at the Etihad.
He told Bet Victor: “City could have wrapped the title up last week against West Ham, but I don’t think they will be left to regret Mahrez’s missed penalty. City are usually so strong at home, and with the likes of De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva in such good form, I can’t see them not winning.
“Villa have a lot of quality in attacking areas and should cause City a few problems here. I worry about them at the back, I can see City scoring a few.
“I don’t see City slipping up here. They hardly ever drop points at home, I think they’ll win this by a few goals.”
Tough task
Gerrard’s side haven’t won in three, after the draw with Burnley on Thursday (19 May), but cannot finish lower than their current spot of 14th.
Crystal Palace, Brentford, Newcastle and Brighton would all have to drop points for the team to make the leap over all of them, but it is not impossible.
As Owen expects, it will be a difficult proposition against the side currently top of the table by a point, but handed the opportunity to be King-makers and with the pressure off, there is no reason the visitors can’t spring a surprise.
The Villa boss famously missed out on winning the league during his years as the Liverpool captain, so he would surely have half an eye on influencing the outcome from afar this time.
But fans in Birmingham will be more concerned with the performance on the last day, hoping to go into the summer on a high.
The season hasn’t gone the way that many expected at the start, but there are big plans afoot for next year.
Former captain Jack Grealish’s exit and the £100million it brought in didn’t pan out as planned, especially for Dean Smith, but the club have an opportunity to deny their ex-talisman glory on the final day.
Some fans will relish the thought, while others would not begrudge him the trophy, but either way there is plenty at stake on the final day.
In other Aston Villa news, Philippe Coutinho’s signing is bad news for Emi Buendia.