Dan Carter

Mon 4 December 2023 14:10, UK

Few would have expected that the first clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City this season would be a showdown in the race at the top of the Premier League but it is now exactly that.

Unai Emery’s side will welcome the Premier League champions to Villa Park on Wednesday (6 December) with Pep Guardiola’s team currently sitting third in the table, one point ahead of Aston Villa in fourth.

There is still plenty of football to be played between now and the end of the season and Wednesday’s clash won’t define the remainder of these two side’s seasons. But Jamie Carragher believes that Manchester City’s “tough” task at Villa Park has now become even harder.

Speaking on Sky Sports (3 December) he said: “You know how tough of a game Aston Villa is even with a full team. Now Rodri and Jack Grealish are out.”

Both Rodri and Grealish won’t be able to feature at Villa Park after they picked up their fifth yellow card of the Premier League season in City’s draw with Tottenham Hotspur as tensions bubbled over at the Etihad Stadium.

The Spanish midfielder has started all 12 of the games that he has been available for in the league this season and Manchester City’s only three defeats in all competitions this season have come in games where Rodri hasn’t featured [Whoscored.com].

It can be suggested that the 27-year-old is one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League, placing in the 99th percentile of his positional peers for passes attempted, pass completion percentage and progressive passes made per 90 minutes [Fbref].

On top of that few players create as many goal-scoring opportunities for their teammates as Rodri, with an average of 5.22 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, the Spanish international is in the top one per cent of midfield creators.

Against Spurs he was a force both in and out of possession, winning the most tackles of any player on either side with a 100 per cent completion rate and came out on top of four of his seven duels both on the ground and in the air [Fotmob].

Grealish on the other hand has not been as influential this season, but Aston Villa supporters don’t need any reminder of just how effective the 28-year-old can be. Against Tottenham, he may have only had 28 touches but he managed to slot home his first goal of the season with his only effort on goal.

Across Europe’s top four leagues, only four per cent of wingers have completed more progressive carries a game than the former Villa star. He may not be in the best form of his career, but he can change a game in an instant so Villa will be happy that he is also unavailable.

Aston Villa are one of only two sides in the Premier League yet to be beaten at home, having won all six of their games at Villa Park this season while Manchester City have already lost twice on their travels.

Guardiola has plenty of depth and will likely be able to field an incredibly strong side regardless of the suspensions he faces, but if Carragher thought Villa would provide a “tough” test to begin with, it just became a whole lot tougher.

In other Aston Villa news, Jeff Stelling has been blown away by the development of Ezri Konsa under Emery’s management