Resurgent Villans unlikely to give champions an easy ride

Steven Gerrard has made a perfect start to life as Aston Villa manager having beaten Brighton and Crystal Palace and punters may want to be cautious of rushing to back visitors Manchester City in his toughest test so far.

Villa have struck four goals in two matches with Gerrard in the dugout and backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals could be the way to go at Villa Park.

That bet has clicked in five of Villa’s previous seven matches and City, who may well welcome back Kevin De Bruyne for this fixture, have seen over 2.5 goals in three of their last four matches.

Three of the last four meetings between these teams have also seen both teams score and at least three goals.

This will be City’s third match in seven days and even if they are equipped to deal with the hectic schedule, they may struggle to completely shut out a resurgent Villa in the Midlands. STAT Villa’s 13 league games have averaged three goals per game this season

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