Aston Villa vs Manchester City. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
Villa ParkAttendance23,636.
Saturday 30 January 2016 15:02, UK
Aston Villa host Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday with Gabby Agbonlahor in contention to start the tie at Villa Park.
The forward, who has been linked with a move away from the club this month, has suffered with calf and back problems since boss Remi Garde arrived in November.
However, Agbonlahor could return to the squad for the clash with City, with Garde saying he wants him to stay.
"I think so," said the Frenchman when asked if the player - who has recently been linked with a move to Turkish side Kayserispor - would still be at Villa next week.
"When I arrived Gabby was injured and was not in the training sessions for a long time. The time I spent discovering the team and players he was not here. He has trained for the last week and seems to be better.
"If he's in the right mood and okay physically he could give us a lift with goals. Every player who's not playing is frustrated apart from 11 playing the game. You're a professional player, you want to start."
Garde remains without Alan Hutton and Carlos Sanchez (both hamstring), with Adama Traore also missing for at least another month with a broken foot.
Meanwhile, Jordan Amavi is out for the season with a knee injury and despite Charles N'Zogbia being fit, the winger is not part of Garde's current plans.
City, meanwhile, head to the west Midlands on a high having beaten Everton in their Capital One Cup semi-final second-leg clash on Wednesday to make it to Wembley next month.
Victory at the Etihad kept City in four competitions, but manager Manuel Pellegrini claims winning the quadruple remains unlikely, with his immediate concern being Saturday's game at Villa.
"It's not a target that we have in mind at the moment because it is not a realistic target," said the Chilean.
"We have to play against Aston Villa tomorrow. If we fail tomorrow, we finish talking about that."
The visitors, though, will be without Kevin De Bruyne for the next 10 weeks after the midfielder injured his right knee against Everton.
And the Belgian joins the likes of centre-backs Eliaquim Mangala (hamstring) and Vincent Kompany (calf), as well as striker Wilfried Bony (calf) and midfielder Sami Nasri (hamstring) on the sidelines.
Merson's prediction
There is no point in a draw for Villa because they will just go up to the Etihad and get beaten and they don't need another game - nor do City really.
Villa may as well go gung-ho for a victory. They are unbeaten in five games but I think they missed a trick last week against West Brom, they needed to win that.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (Sky Bet odds 13/2)
Opta stats
City have progressed past Villa in the last three meetings in the cup, including a 3-0 fifth-round win en route to winning the trophy in 2011.
Villa have won three of their last four FA Cup games against fellow Premier League sides, all en route to the final last season.
The Villans have netted in each of their last 12 home games in the FA Cup, scoring two or more on 10 occasions.
The last time the Citizens lost against a team from the same division in the FA Cup was in 2013 when they were defeated 1-0 in the final by Wigan Athletic.
Villa have won more cup matches (3) than league games (2) so far in 2015/16.
The Villans have conceded just one goal in their last four competitive matches.
City have won only two of their last nine competitive away matches (W2 D3 L4).
