Aston Villa vs. Man City: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream and TV Info

It’s top versus bottom at Villa Park on Sunday as Manchester City travel to Remi Garde’s Aston Villa.

City are top of the Premier League table on goal difference, and Manuel Pellegrini’s men go into the game having produced their finest Champions League performance to date in their 3-1 win over Sevilla on Tuesday.

The stats suggest a comfortable City win. Villa haven’t won since the opening day—that’s 10 league matches without a victory—and they are yet to secure three points at home this season.

They also haven’t kept a clean sheet since their win at Bournemouth in August, whereas City are the league’s top scorers with 26. Villa average just 0.6 goals per game at home this term.

But they have a new manager and that, usually, brings about a renewed sense of optimism and sees players who were previously underperforming improve as they seek to catch the eye of the new man in charge.

Garde’s record so far has been decent, having won the Coupe de France when in charge at Lyon and taking them to two other major domestic cup finals. He also managed two third-place finishes and a Europa League quarter-final.

Miguel Angel Morenatti/Associated Press

Date: Sunday, November 8

Kick-off: 1:30 p.m. GMT / 8:30 a.m. ET

TV Listings: Sky Sports 1 and HD (UK) / NBCSN (US) 

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK) 

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Form Guide (last five results)

Villa

Tottenham 3-1 Villa

Southampton 2-1 Villa (League Cup) 

Villa 1-2 Swansea 

Chelsea 2-0 Villa 

Villa 0-1 Stoke City 

Jon Super/Associated Press

City

Sevilla 1-3 City (Champions League) 

City 2-1 Norwich City

City 5-1 Crystal Palace (League Cup)

Manchester United 0-0 City

City 2-1 Sevilla (Champions League)

Predicted Formations 

Villa

Garde will have to check the fitness of Ashley Westwood who is struggling with a head injury. 

Aston Villa (from): Bunn, Guzan, Steer, Amavi, Bacuna, Clark, Crespo, Hutton, Ilori, Lescott, Okore, Richards, Richardson, Senderos, Cole, Gardner, Gil, Gueye, Grealish, N'Zogbia, Sanchez, Sinclair, Veretout, Westwood, Ayew, Gestede, Kozak, Traore.

Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Guzan; Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amavi; Westwood; Ayew, Gueye, Veretout, Grealish; Gestede

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

City

City are still without Sergio Aguero who is continuing his recovery from a hamstring injury. David Silva, Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta are also out. Fabian Delph and Gael Clichy are back in contention but probably won't be risked from the start. 

Manchester City (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala, Otamendi, Sagna, De Bruyne, Delph, Fernandinho, Fernando, Navas, Roberts, Silva, Toure, Bony, Iheanacho, Sterling.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Hart; Sagna, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Toure; Navas, Sterling, De Bruyne; Bony 

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Players to Watch

Villa: Jack Grealish 

It's not all doom and gloom for Aston Villa right now. They have in their grasp one of the best young British talents. 

Jack Grealish, 20, is a hugely gifted player. He has a wonderful ability to run with the ball, sliding past players and taking them out of the game. His touch is instinctive and impressive, and he reads the game exceptionally well. 

Last season at the Etihad, he was arguably the best player on the pitch as Villa lost 3-2 to a City side finishing the campaign strongly. 

Grealish looks set for a very successful career in the game. 

James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

City: Jesus Navas 

There's stiff competition for places in City's attack right now, but Jesus Navas is a firm Pellegrini favourite. After producing arguably his two best performances for the club in recent weeks, it wouldn't be a surprise if he started the game on Sunday.

In both City's games against Sevilla, Navas was one of the best players on the pitch. He has looked in inspired form after a difficult period earlier on the season. 

Navas brings pace and width to the City side, something they lack elsewhere. Even the arrival of Raheem Sterling hasn't brought true width to the left because the former Liverpool man enjoys cutting inside onto his right foot. 

The Spaniard offers something different, and given he's featured in every one of City's Premier League matches so far, it's clear his manager values his qualities. 

David Ramos/Getty Images

Key Battle: Micah Richards vs. Wilfried Bony 

Former City man Micah Richards has been Villa's best player this season, and he will have the job of keeping Wilfried Bony quiet on Sunday. 

Richards, in the eyes of most who saw him at City, isn't a natural centre-back. He excelled at times as a right-back at the Etihad, and had one good season as a centre-half, but during other periods he often looked lost positionally, which is always highlighted more at the heart of the defence. 

However, he appears to be enjoying playing there. His distribution is improving, and he likes to bring the ball out of defence to set moves going. 

Bony has scored four in his last six—a decent record for a player filling in for Aguero. However, in truth, he still isn't convincing everybody he can cut it at City. 

He is snatching at chances and looks to be lacking confidence. Clearly, he's a talented player, but he needs to do more in the coming games to show people he is a top-quality forward worthy of a place in the City team. 

Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

Odds (via Odds Shark)

Villa: +475

City: -175

Draw: +300

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.