After last Sunday’s disappointing derby defeat to Manchester United Pep Guardiola’s side must respond against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday. Manchester City enter the tough Premier League fixture off the back of one win in their past eleven games. Confidence isn’t at its highest in Pep Guardiola’s squad. But they simply must fire a shot against Unai Emery’s side tomorrow.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, tomorrow’s match is a must-win game for Manchester City. More so for their confidence rather than anything else. Their poor run of form has been littered with costly mistakes, poor performances and everything else in between that leads to one win in eleven games. If that carries into tomorrow’s match it could be a long afternoon at Villa Park for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Aston Villa currently sit 7th in the Premier League table. Although they have stuttered of late Unai Emery’s side is packed with quality. They have Emiliano Martinez in goal. The Argentinian keeper is one of the best keepers in world football. Pau Torres, Diego Carlos, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa are proven commodities in defence. Across midfield, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, and Boubacar Kamara add steel in Villa’s engine room. They have pace and quality up front in Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Jhon Dhuran and more. It is a team that looks equipped to give Manchester City problems tomorrow.

READ MORE: Manchester City must move on from their derby defeat but they must learn the lessons from it.

But Pep Guardiola’s side simply must respond at Villa Park. They could be strengthened at the back by the return from injury of Manuel Akanji and John Stones. Rico Lewis also returns to the City squad after serving a one-match ban. But whoever starts for Manchester City at Villa Park must respond after City’s poor run. That is non-negotiable. City needs a win no matter how they get it. It is desperate times for Pep Guardiola’s side. It’s as simple as that.

Manchester City must respond tomorrow at Villa Park. They do not want to make it one win in twelve games come the final whistle tomorrow. A tough test awaits at Villa Park against Aston Villa but it may be the setting City need to finally respond after poor run of results.