Who: Aston Villa vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Villa Park, Birmingham, United Kingdom
When: 12:30pm (12:30 GMT) on Saturday
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Manchester City will not seek to address their current crisis of form with new recruits in January, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
Four-time defending Premier League champions City have lost eight and won just one of their last 11 games in all competitions.
Last season’s surprise package Aston Villa now await at Villa Park on Saturday although both clubs have underperformed this season. Guardiola said he won’t, however, seek to rebuild his squad in the January transfer window when asked about whether the current squad can turn things around.
“I don’t know. That will be at the end of the season. At the end of the season, we will see the situation,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday. “What I want is my players back [from injury]. My feeling is the squad is really good. It is not if they are good or bad players.
“We lost two important figures for a while. We want players back, and then after what happens in the winter and what happens at the end of the season, the club and myself will decide what is best for the team.”
City’s troubled season was dealt another blow this week with confirmation that defender Ruben Dias will be out for up to four weeks because of a muscle injury.
Guardiola has cited injuries to key players such as Rodri as a factor in his team’s troubles, and the loss of Dias compounds his problems with the City manager adding Dias’s injury occurred during Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
“After 75 minutes against United, he felt something. He’s strong and wanted to stay on the pitch, but now he’s injured,” Guardiola said.
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