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Man City v Aston Villa preview

Manchester City begin their quest for Capital One Cup glory with a home game against Premier League rivals Aston Villa on Tuesday.

Mancini to make wholesale changes; Ireland blow for Villa

Manchester City begin their quest for Capital One Cup glory with a home game against Premier League rivals Aston Villa on Tuesday. Roberto Mancini does not believe City have clicked yet this season, having played out a number of close games in the Premier League and Europe. They drew 1-1 with Arsenal on Sunday, having been beaten by Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last week, and will now be keen to return to winning ways. Aston Villa have endured a tough start to the campaign and suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Southampton at the weekend. Paul Lambert's side have only won once in five Premier League games, but they did also beat Tranmere 3-0 in the previous round of the Capital One Cup.Mancini is expected to make wholesale changes and give opportunities to some of his fringe players. None of the players who began Sunday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal are expected to start but substitutes Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli are likely to lead the line while youngsters Denis Suarez, Abdul Razaq and Luca Scapuzzi will be in the squad. City will be without four players through injury, midfielder James Milner and defender Maicon joining midfielder Samir Nasri and full-back Micah Richards on the sidelines. Villa boss Lambert could be forced to make at least one change for the trip to the Etihad Stadium. Midfielder Stephen Ireland could miss out on a return to his former club after he left the pitch in the 4-1 defeat by Southampton with a suspected broken arm. Chris Herd and Fabian Delph are both available after injuries and could feature but it could still be a game too soon for Marc Albrighton (foot), while Richard Dunne (groin) and Gary Gardner (ligaments) are long-term absentees.

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