Manchester City will look to bounce back from a disappointing showing against Roma in the Champions League in midweek when they travel to Aston Villa on Saturday evening. Villa have defied pre-season predictions and find themselves inside the top six early on in the season, but recent defeats against Chelsea and Arsenal in the midst of a difficult spell of fixtures could well have upset their early rhythm.
The big news for Villa is the return of Belgium forward Christian Benteke, who has trained with the first team again after missing the last six months - including the World Cup - with a ruptured achilles. Manager Paul Lambert has said he has a chance of playing on Saturday, saying, "If we think he's justified to go in with his fitness levels then that's something that myself and the staff will decide." His fellow forward Libor Kozak is still some way from making a return after having another operation on his broken leg, while defender and captain Ron Vlaar will not feature due to a calf injury.
For the visitors, midfield anchorman Fernando will be available having missed the last six games with a groin injury, and England goalkeeper could be in line for his 300th league game after being recalled for their one-all draw with Roma at the Etihad in midweek.
Though the last meeting between these two teams resulted in a 4-0 win for City at the end of last season, Villa do not have the worst record against last season's runners-up and twice came from behind last September with goals from Karim El Ahmadi, Leandro Bacuna and Andreas Weimann giving them a famous 3-2 win at Villa Park.
Lambert has been talking up his side's chances of repeating the feat again this weekend, but accepts that the odds are firmly stacked against the Villans. "We're still sixth in the table and now we have got one of the best teams, who might win the title, coming to us on Saturday," he said. "They're full of top, top players. They're a right top side. But I think on any given day you can win a match. It's over the course of 38 games it's really tough."
Meanwhile, City's former Villa star James Milner is relishing the chance to face his former team, speaking warmly of his time at the club. "I've been very impressed with their form,” said Milner. “They've had a great start to the season and it's been good to see them up near the top and hopefully they can continue to do well. I loved every minute of my time with Villa. The fans were great to me and we were unfortunate not to win a trophy and get into the Champions League. I can't thank them enough for what they did for me."
City have struggled on weekends following Champions League action in the past, and Villa will be looking to take full advantage to get their form back on track. However, there is no doubt that City will be going into the game as firm favourites and if they can get back to their best, we could well be set for an entertaining game. We'll have every kick of the weekend's action right here on VAVEL with live scores, commentary and analysis.