"I am certainly not going to start doubting them" - Chris Sutton makes prediction for Aston Villa vs Manchester City

Former striker Chris Sutton has made his pick for Manchester City's Premier League clash at Aston Villa on Wednesday (December 6).

The Cityzens are third in the standings - with 30 points from 14 games - to slip four points behind leaders Arsenal. Pep Guardiola's side are coming off a thrilling 3-3 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.

City recovered from a goal down to lead twice, but Spurs forced a share of the spoitsl, thanks to Dejan Kulusevski's opportunistic 90th-minute equaliser. It marked the champions' third straight draw, having drawn 4-4 at Chelsea and 1-1 at home to Liverpool in their two previous league outings.

Meanwhile, Villa have fared well, trailing City by a point in fourth place in the standings. Unai Emery's side are also coming off a draw in the previous outing - a 2-2 stalemate at Bournemouth at the weekend.

Nevertheless, Sutton wrote in his BBC Sport prediction column that he foresees City prevailing by an odd goal, albeit without keeping a clean sheet:

'It has been surprising to see Manchester City conceding so many goals recently - they have shipped 10 in their past four games - and I do think Villa will score here, but I'd still back Pep Guardiola's side to score more.

He added:

"It's a blow for City to be without suspended duo Rodri and Jack Grealish, but I am certainly not going to start doubting them. They might be playing with a bit of anger after feeling wronged by the decision not to let them play an advantage right at the end of Sunday's draw with Tottenham, even if I do think too much was made out of that incident.

"The referee was wrong to stop play, but I think the Spurs defence would have caught Grealish anyway."

The Cityzens are seeking an unprecedented Premier League four-peat but have clearly stuttered in recent games.

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"We deserved to win" - Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol after Spurs draw

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol bemoans dropping two points at home to Spurs after leading twice, the second time with nine minutes of regulation time remaining.

However, a leaky defence played spoilsport, as they couldn't see out the win, conceding a late equaliser. Gvardiol - who arrived this summer from RB Leipzig - said (as per Man City website):

“I’m disappointed. We deserved to win. We could have won the game a bit earlier, and in the first half with big chances, but it is what it is, it’s football."

“It was a great game and a great battle. It was amazing to watch of course, but, as a player, it’s not amazing when you only take a point."

After the Villa game, Manchester City travel to Luton Town on Sunday (December 10) before completing their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign at Crvena Zvezda three days later.