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Manchester City will look to keep title rivals Manchester United at arms-length once more when they go up against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday.

City’s comfortable 2-0 win over Fulham last weekend meant the pressure was put on United to respond with victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, something they were unable to do as they came back from 3-0 down to claim a 3-3 draw.

That means that Roberto Mancini’s men now sit atop of the Premier League by two clear points, and with United going up against Liverpool in another a tough encounter, they will look for maximum points against Villa to keep their place at the top.

However while City have an immaculate record at home this season their record on the road pales in comparison, with their twelve games away yielding three draws and three wins so far.

That will likely give Villa fans hope of following in the footsteps of Everton and Sunderland who have upset City in recent weeks in front of their won fans, while United will be hoping that proves to be the cast and that they can dislodge their cross-city rivals from top spot for the first time since October.

Villa meanwhile will be sorely disappointed not to be going into the game against the league leaders on the back of a win after Newcastle snatched all three points at the Sports Direct Arena last weekend thanks to a goal from debutant Papiss Demba Cisse.

Charles N’Zogbia added to Villa manager Alex McLeish’s week of woes by revealing he was unhappy at Villa Park on Twitter, while the Villa faithful aired their opinion in no uncertain terms as attacking threats N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland were substituted with the outcome of the game still in the balance, although the latter was later revealed to have picked up an injury.

Robbie Keane and his partnership with Darren Bent proved to a lone bright spot in that game for McLeish, with the former Tottenham forward making it onto the scoresheet once more after completing his short-term loan from L.A Galaxy.

Mario Balotelli continues his suspension following his lashing out at Scott Parker last month, while Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany are both slight doubts having picked up knocks.

Villa are expected to welcome back Gabriel Agbonlahor, Marc Albrighton and James Collins are all expected to return for the game while Ireland is expected to feature despite being taken off against Newcastle with a knock.

Match Winner

While Aston Villa will hold out some hope of upsetting their opponents, it is City who remain the clear favourites to emerge with all three points.

SkyBet have City at 2.64 (8/11) to win while Villa are 5.50 (9/2) with StanJames to cause an upset. The draw is 11/4 with Bet365.

First Goalscorer

Sergio Aguero recently took over from Edin Dzeko as Manchester City’s top scorer and it is the diminutive Argentinean who is favourite to open the scoring on Sunday, with VC Bet placing him at 5.25 (17/4).

Dzeko is 6.00 (5/1) with Coral to notch first, while Darren Bent, who recently passed the milestone of 100 Premier League goals, is 8.00 (7/1) with Bet365 to continue his recent good form and find the back of the net against City.

Recommended Bets

First goalscorer: Darren Bent, 8.00 (7/1) Bet365

Correct score: 2-2 draw, 17.00 (16/1) SkyBet

View the rest of this betting tip at: http://www.bigfreebet.com/previews/2012/aston-villa-v-manchester-city-betting-odds.html

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