Match Day 29 Preview: City Vs Aston Villa

When Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City left Anfield on Wednesday after suffering a 0-3 whipping, the club's title hopes seemed to evaporate with the winds in the Merseyside night. Pellegrini remains optimistic about the team's chances of winning the Premiere League, but admits that the chances missed are costly ones. "Liverpool is an important defeat because we now have one game less and we couldn't win one point."

Aston Villa find themselves in a substantially larger hole as the last placed Villains have now lost 5 of their last 6 matches and 8 points clear of relegation. On Tuesday, Villa fell to Everton 1-3, and as fans exited Villa Park on the 74th minute, it seems as if there's no saving one of the League's oldest clubs.

Mathematically, Villa are still in a position to avoid the drop, but the team now has rumors swirling of an internal rift between players, confrontations amongst fans, and a manager in Remi Garde, who unsure of his day-to-day future. With that to said, Villa now face Manchester City at the Etihad, and the formidable Spurs to follow.

It seems that City would have an opportunity to gain a valuable three points in a table that now sees West Ham and Manchester United on their backs. Could Pellegrini concede the title with aspirations of success in the Champions League? It's quite possible. But, if City fall to a squad at the bottom of the table, the same squad who they defeated 4-0 in January, there are larger questions to ask.

The Citizens have the quality to win comfortably, and with the return of Yaya Toure, who was absent in the midweek, and the return of De Bruyne, Delph and Nasri looming, this could be a win to catapult the club back on course.

Manchester City FC vs Aston Villa

Etihad Stadium, Manchester UK

Time: 1500GMT - 1000EST- 0700PST

Referee: Lee Mason

Manchester City Form: LLWDL

Aston Villa Form: LLLWL