Aston Villa v Manchester City: Back 13/2 John McGinn to fire as City remain opposable | OneFootball

English Premier League

Aston Villa skipper John McGinn

Sky Sports' Lewis Jones thinks a refreshed Aston Villa are likely to dish out more punishment to Manchester City, who look gone at the game. He tips up a 13/2 goalscorer to attack...

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Aston Villa v Manchester CitySaturday 21 December, 12:30Live on TNT Sports

Are Man City gone at the game?

Seriously, what is happening at Manchester City? Just one win in 11 games, losing eight of those has left them bottom of the Premier League form table from results collated from November 2.

Yes, they are an ageing team that can't deal with transitions very well but to completely lose all of their powers across every department of their game is very strange. It's a set of results that is now becoming hard to explain or come up with a sensible, logical reason why the drop off has been so bad. I'm starting to think we're all just being pranked and this is all just one big Netflix documentary. That's how much my brain has been frazzled by City's sharp demise.

Despite the struggles of trying to analyse their shortcomings, it surely remains profitable to keep on exploiting betting angles against them in the market.

You can really take your pick for their trip to Villa Park where City are still being priced up as favourites to win the match at 2.16 on the Betfair Exchange. That looks skinny based on Aston Villa losing just once at home in their last 16 home matches across the Premier League and Champions League.

A full week's rest has to be a positive for them too after a hectic run of fixtures that has affected Unai Emery's team reaching peak levels of consistency with their performance levels.

The home side on the double chance market at 8/11 on the Sportsbook isn't an official play of mine but is certainly one for readers to keep in their thoughts if plotting any Bet Builder action on the game.

Super John McGinn remains under the radar

If I've got Aston Villa as a borderline bet at the prices, I've simply got to delve into the goalscorer market.

Remember, City have conceded two or more goals in 10 of their last 11 games across all competitions.

We simply have to back John McGinn then at 13/2 to score at anytime.

McGinn is Emery's skipper and he's quietly having a very impressive season playing as one of the four attack-minded players in this system that has the two central midfielders sitting behind as insurance.

We've seen from his time playing for Scotland, McGinn carries the quality and attacking nous to be a potent player in the final third. He's scored 20 goals for Scotland which puts him fifth on their all-time top goalscorer list. There's a chance he might become their top goalscorer in history as he only needs another 11 goals to break Kenny Dalglish's and Denis Law's goalscoring record.

For Villa, the rampaging Scot has had at least one shot in his last 11 appearances, totalling 21 shots in total. And his willingness to join the central striker is seen through statistics like the 3.6 runs into the box he's making in his last 11 matches and the 3.8 touches in the opposition box.

This role he has is all about supporting the lone striker in central areas in the box. That was shown by his goal against RB Leipzig, netting from inside the box in a central area where he was sniffing the knockdowns.

The 13/2 is a bit of an insult to his ability in front of goal, so I'll be having a bit of that.

Betfair's 3pm Saturday Superboost!

Aleksandar Isak (v Ipswich) and Jarrod Bowen (v Brighton) form our Saturday Superboost with both players in red hot form.

Isak has scored in his last three Premier League games, whilst all four of Jarrod Bowen's Premier League goals this season have come in home matches.

We just need both men to have a single shot on target for the Superboost to land, and they have each had 14 of those across their last 10 league games.

With Ipswich and Brighton leaking goals, the two strikers leading the line will be fancying their chances this weekend.

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John McGinn to score anytime @ 13/2