Manchester City welcomes Aston Villa

Manchester City welcomes Aston Villa

Manchester City welcomes Aston Villa at the Etihad Staidum in a game from the 10th round of the English Premier League. What can we say about this fixture? Let’s see.

After the last round in the Premier League, Manchester City improved their situation a little bit. Pep Guardiola’s team achieved a win during the visit to Crystal Palace, while the leader Liverpool made its first mistake in the league, losing two points during the draw against Manchester United. Because of this, now City are getting closer to Liverpool, being 6 points behind.

During the week Manchester City achieved a third consecutive win in the Champions League as well. The Cityzens hosted Atalanta at the Etihad and crushed their opponents with 5-1. Raheem Sterling made another great performance and scored a hatrick for the hosts, while Sergio Aguero scored two more.

In this game the manager Pep Guardiola once again took an interesting decision, starting two holding midfielders – Fernandinho and Rodri, as centre backs. Here’s the moment to remind you that Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones are fit to play, so they might start against Villa on Saturday.

Aston Villa are on the rise in their last three matches, doing one draw and winning twice. Because of this, now the newcomers are 12th in the league standings, which is way better.

In their last game the former European champions hosted Brighton & Hove Albion at the Villa Park and achieved a 2-1 win. The visitors opened the score after 21 minutes of playing, but Aston Villa turned it around with goals from Jack Grealish and Matt Targett.

Of course, for Aston Villa now it’s going to be much more difficult against the current champion Manchester City. It’s hard to get a result at the Etihad, although Wolverhampton Wanderers proved that it’s not impposible not too long ago.

England – Bulgaria

England – Bulgaria

England are becoming better and better under the management of Gareth Southgate. The Three Lions have a spectacular and enormously talented generation at the moment. Last summer they reached the semi-finals at the World Cup, while the team’s performance in the European qualifying campaign is another proof of their quality. Let’s take a look at the Euro 2020 qualification between England and Bulgaria from Group A on Saturday.

England have played two games in this group so far and in both cases they scored five goals in their opponents’ net. The Three Lions journey in this campaign started with a crushing 5-0 win over Czech Republic at the Wembley. In their second game Southgate’s boys arrived in Montenegro and once again scored five.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling is the team’s topscorer so far. Sterling is playing in fantastic way in the last three seasons and he’s becoming better and better. In just two games for England so far he has scored four goals. He’s going to be one of Three Lions’ main weapons against Bulgaria.

Speaking of Bulgaria, their campaign so far is nothing to be proud of. In four matches played so far, the Bulgarian team won just two points. The Balkan side seriously decreased its chances of reaching the European Championship.

Before their fourth game in the group against Kosovo Bulgaria changed their manager. The domestic Football Association appointed one of the country’s biggest legends Krassimir Balakov. But sadly for them, Balakov’s debut was not successful and Bulgaria suffered a 2-3 defeat in Sofia against Kosovo.

We have all the reasons to believe that England will enjoy themselves against Bulgaria on Saturday. These two teams are very different in terms of quality, plus the Three Lions are enjoying being in a great shape lately. It’s going to be a really rought night for the visitors at the Wembley.

Fulham – Manchester City

Fulham hosts the champion Manchester City in a first game from the 32th round of the English Premier League. Let’s take a look at this fixture at the Craven Cottage in London.

Fulham are already preparing themselves for another sting in the Championship. Right now Cottagers are 19th in the league with 17 points, losing all of their last five matches in the league. The sacking of Claudio Ranieri and the appointment of Scott Parker as a manager didn’t help much, too. Right now Fulham are 13 points behind the 17th Burnley and the safe zone, so for them it’s going to be near impossible to survive.

In their last game Fulham hosted Liverpool at the Craven Cottage and suffered a 1-2 loss. Until the 81th minute the result was 1-1, but Liverpool clinched the win after a penalty kick, scored by James Milner.

Manchester City on the other hand are 2nd in the league standings with 74 points, being 2 points behind the leader Liverpool. But here’s the moment to remind you that Man City have a game in hand compared to the Reds. If they win against Fulham, they will return at the top.

Manchester City won all of their last five games in the Premier League. In their last match Pep Guardiola’s boys enjoyed a 3-1 win at home against Watford. Raheem Sterling was the big hero of the night, scoring a hattrick for City. He’s in a great shape at the moment, proving that during his games with England in the last 10 days.

In conclusion we can say that Manchester City are the big favourites against Fulham and there’s nothing surprising about this. Pep Guardiola’s team is much stronger and aiming to win the title again. As for Fulham, they are in a desperate situation at the moment.