The Game​

Villa Park is the destination for Manchester City’s eighth Premier League fixture of the season, with Enzo Maresca’s side looking to make it eight wins from eight. Twenty-one points from seven games, top of the table and three points clear of Arsenal. Not bad for a club that some people seem to believe should be spending its weekends preparing for life on Mars rather than playing football.

Of course, there is a long way to go, and Villa Park is hardly the place to expect a quiet afternoon. Unai Emery has a habit of making life uncomfortable for City, and his side have shown signs of recovering from a disappointing start. They sit twelfth, but recent results have been encouraging, including a win at Newcastle and a convincing European victory in midweek. Villa also completed a league double over City last season, so they will need no reminding that the visitors are beatable.

That said, there is a difference between finding form and facing a City side that has won every league game so far. City went to Anfield and emerged with a 3–0 victory, before being forced to work much harder than expected in a 3–2 win over Ipswich. The midweek 5–1 victory against AEK Athens provided another reminder that there are goals throughout this squad, even when Maresca shuffles his pack.

Phil Foden has been among the goals, while Erling Haaland returns after being rested in Europe. That will be welcome news for City supporters and rather less welcome for Villa’s defenders. Haaland has developed a habit of turning a perfectly respectable defensive display into a lengthy post-match discussion about what went wrong. Villa may want to keep him occupied, because giving him time and space is rather like leaving the biscuit tin open and hoping nobody notices.

City are not without their own concerns, with injuries continuing to affect the available options, but there is enough quality in the squad to cope. Maresca has inherited a side capable of winning in different circumstances, and the early signs suggest the transition is progressing rather better than some of the doom merchants predicted. There will be sterner tests ahead, but collecting maximum points while the team continues to evolve is hardly cause for complaint.

Villa, naturally, will fancy their chances. Emery knows City well, his players will take confidence from last season’s results, and the home crowd will be ready to make itself heard. They are entitled to their optimism. What they are not entitled to is a head start, although City have occasionally been generous enough to offer one this season. The 3–2 win over Ipswich may have entertained the neutrals, but heart medication is not supposed to form part of the matchday experience.

Then there is the inevitable noise away from the football. The headlines, the speculation, the predictions of doom and the endless discussion about what might happen next. City supporters have grown accustomed to hearing that the sky is about to fall in, yet the players continue to turn up and collect points. Whatever happens off the pitch will take its course; tomorrow’s task is rather simpler. Eleven players, a football, three points available and a home side desperate to take something from the league leaders.

There is no need to underestimate Villa, but neither is there any reason for City to approach this fixture with anything other than confidence. The league table is not decided in October, and seven wins do not guarantee an eighth. They do, however, suggest that this City side has developed a rather useful habit of finding ways to win, something that should concern the opposition considerably more than it concerns us.

Villa will make City work for it, and another nervous finish would do little for the blood pressure. But with Foden finding his feet and Haaland always capable of turning half a chance into a goal, City have every reason to believe they can leave Birmingham with another three points.

Eight wins from eight? We’ll take that, thank you very much. The season is young, the points are there to be won, and somewhere in the background the usual suspects are probably rehearsing their explanations for why City being top is somehow bad for football. They can save their breath. We have a match to win.