Alex Keble explains how Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa have the capability to stop Man City on Sunday….
The Premier League title race is not over. There appears to be a widely-held assumption that Manchester City will breeze past Aston Villa on Sunday to collect their fourth medal in five years in the competition, yet there is plenty of evidence to suggest Steven Gerrard’s team have the tactical capability to push Man City all the way. It might not be the most likely thing to happen, but it would be foolish to say Villa stand no chance.
West Ham United’s 2-2 draw last weekend set something of a template for how to stop Man City, although many of those lessons had already been learnt from the four draws against Crystal Palace and Southampton earlier in the campaign. In simple terms, the way to stop Pep Guardiola’s side is a) slow them down by sitting 11 men behind the ball but without dropping so deep as to allow their creative players un-pressured possession 25 yards from goal, and b) launch quick and vertical counter-attacks in behind Man City’s very high defensive line.
Aston Villa have the ability to do both of these things. When it comes to the first part, much rests on whether they can ride out an early storm, because City’s relentless form recently is largely thanks to an ability to score early – before the opponent has the chance to set the slower rhythm. Should Villa manage to hold out for the first 15 minutes then the tension of the afternoon may start creeping into Man City’s performance, leading to the sort of nervousness that makes their touches a little too heavy or a little too sideways.
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And Villa have the formation to help this along. Gerrard will either deploy a diamond 4-4-2 or Christmas Tree 4-3-2-1 and in either case that means packing central midfield with four bodies. Surrounding Rodri is crucial to stopping Man City – to making them pass harmlessly back and forth…
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