Welcome to the Premier League, Remi Garde! Your first task as the new manager of Aston Villa is to find a way to beat Manchester City. No pressure.
Manchester City vs. Aston Villa 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch EPL online
Remi Garde’s first match in charge of Aston Villa is about as rough a matchup as he could have feared.
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Villa’s new man in charge has quite a trial by fire ahead of him, set to face the team that currently tops the table in the EPL. Aston Villa have more talent on their team than their last-place standing would seem to indicate, but they certainly haven’t played like it. They’ve earned just four points all season long, and Garde has an absolutely massive task ahead of him to keep his new club from getting relegated.
On form, there’s no reason to think that this match won’t be anything but an absolute pasting from Manchester City -- Villa’s defense has been dreadfully poor and their attack fairly inept. City’s attack has been lethal, even without injured stars Sergio Aguero and David Silva, and their defense is more than capable of keeping Villa’s toothless attack at bay.
But with a new manager, form gets thrown out the window -- new tactics, new ideas, and new effort can turn Villa into a very different team. You still have to imagine that City win this one handily, but they can’t go into this match assuming they already have it won.
Key player -- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Arguably the biggest weakness that Aston Villa have struggled with this season has been facing well-rounded attacking midfielders. De Bruyne is a wonderful example of exactly that, with his combination of top-shelf creative skills and lethal ability to score on his own, thus creating a matchup nightmare for Villa. The Belgian star will be the focal point of Manchester’s attack in this match, and Villa’s midfield is going to need to be at its very best in order to keep him at bay.
Key factor -- The Garde factor
No one’s really quite sure what to expect from Aston Villa under their new manager. Garde has a lot of success in his background with Lyon, but he has a huge task in front of him to get this Aston Villa side out of their season-long doldrums and playing like a decent Premier League team again. Still, the team seems fairly well suited to the style Garde showed at Lyon, with a high-tempo passing attack that can be anchored by the likes of Carles Gil and Jack Grealish, and solidly energetic midfielders like Idrissa Gueye are in the fold already as well.
If Garde can impress his vision on this team quickly, they could start shooting up the table. The question today is whether or not he can get the job done fast enough to get a result against Manchester City.
Aston Villa injuries and suspensions
Out: Gary Gardner In doubt: Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Westwood
Manchester City injuries and suspensions
Out: Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Samir Nasri, Pablo Zabaleta
Manchester are still without their two best players in Aguero and Silva, and the continued absences of Nasri and Zabaleta don’t help matters any. City’s depth has held up well in their absence, but they’d still much rather get them back sooner than later. Villa have two regular starters banged up in Agbonlahor and Westwood.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 8:30 a.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. local
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham, England
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish), TSN4, 5, RDS 2 (Canada), Sky Sports 1/HD (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.)
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