Aston Villa

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has demanded "more" from Morgan Rogers after his fine recent performances.

The 22-year-old scored and assisted in Saturday's win over Manchester City to make it five goals and four assists so far this season in a campaign in which he has also made his senior England debut.

"Collectively and individually [we have targets]," Emery said in his news conference before Villa's visit to Newcastle on Boxing Day.

"We will need his numbers and, more or less, he is getting it. I am very demanding with him, with the team, with myself.

"[I am demanding] with Morgan because he is very important for us but I need his performance every match we are playing with different objective. Sometimes playing number 10, sometimes playing on the left-hand side, defensively, offensively, sometimes assists, sometimes score goals and get in the box. Try to work on the link with our midfielders and defenders when we are progressing the ball.

"He has a lot of responsibility in my eyes and my style. I am trying to push him a lot. I am happy with him but I want more from him."

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Premier League game at Newcastle (15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Asked if the Magpies are their main rivals for Champions League qualification, Emery replied: "We are in a good balance in the table but we are a long way from what we want to do. Newcastle are behind us by two points but we are not now in the top four. We are only facing them thinking they are our opponent now."

• On the Magpies: "They are now in top form. They played Champions League two years ago. The objective is clear for them to be in Europe. It will be a difficult game."

• On the job Eddie Howe is doing at St James' Park: "He was doing a fantastic job at Bournemouth. His Newcastle team is very dynamic, they like to play aggressively in attack. They like to do a lot of duels on the field with the players man to man. They beat us last year two times and I respect him a lot."

• He is pleased with the form of Morgan Rogers: "He has a lot of responsibility in my eyes. I am trying to push him a lot. We will need his numbers. More or less he is getting it. I am very demanding with him because he is very important for us. I am happy with him but I want more from him."

• Emery is happy with his midfield options: "We are building a team. Amadou Onana is getting better. Boubacar Kamara is coming back really, really strong and feeling comfortable after injury. We have to try to use our players with the combinations we can have. Yuri Tielemans can play as a six, eight and sometimes 10. With Ross Barkley we are thinking the same."

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Clive: A solid performance and a structure that worked well. We were patient in defence and fast in attack. Excellent all-round throughout the game. We deserved a clean sheet and only a stumble on the ball gave them the goal.

Kit: Villa were outstanding in possession. Their ability to hold off tackles and run with the ball is what undid Manchester City. Rogers was the prime example of going past players to keep attacks in midfield and around City's box. It was like watching a class Real Madrid team. A fantastic game in which City had no answer and were second-class from start to finish.

Tony: Brilliant display. Kamara is so important for us. Onana gave us a rock-solid platform in central midfield. Tielemans pulled the strings in a more advanced number 10 role.

Mark: The best Villa performance of the season. Rogers and Duran are a formidable pairing up front.

Colin: We have seen Villa play like this before. As Emery says, consistency counts. If we maintain this, top four is guaranteed. City weren't so poor but they were simply outplayed by a team of underrated players. City will recover, but Villa can finish above them this season. A good feeling!

City fans

Anton: After nine years, teams have worked out a simple way to beat Manchester City's press and high line. After five defeats, Guardiola said it was up to him to find a solution - which he hasn't done. More plan A isn't working. In the past five years, City's build-up play has got slower and slower. The signs were there last season when Haaland had a goal drought.

Tony: Erling Haaland contributes almost nothing to City. He only scores when the opportunity is given to him on a plate. He does nothing to help the team defend, even in midfield. City may as well play most of their games with nine outfield players.

Steve: Sadly, age has caught up with the bulk of this team and it is a constant cycle of recurring injuries. We definitely need some fresh legs in the January transfer window. The only thing that really disappoints me are so-called City fans questioning Pep. There is nobody I would rather have looking to get us through this tough patch than him.

John: Disgusting from the players, no fight or passion. The club and Pep are to blame for this situation. It is bad management from Pep, allowing players to leave and not replacing them with quality. This is a dead season now and I can't wait for it to be over.

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Former Premier League defender Ashley Williams praised Aston Villa's midfield set-up in their 2-1 win over Manchester City, which left the reigning Premier League champions unable "to counter-attack at all".

Speaking on Match of the Day, Williams said: "The game was won in midfield - Kamara, Rogers, Onana, Tielemans and McGinn were superb.

"They played so close together and they worked so hard together. They just swarmed Manchester City so that any time they had the ball in the advanced areas, if it wasn't Kamara then it was Onana winning a tackle.

"That then allowed them to release each other in possession as well, so they always had a pass free straight after winning the ball back, because they were working so closely together.

"They just weren't allowing Manchester City to counter-attack at all.

"I would like to highlight Tielemans and Onana. If it's not one of them then it's the other and they are able to play out of situations at the back. We saw the best of Tielemans in this game.

"When Aston Villa are on the ball, they have always got options. It is either a diamond or a square shape that they play in, and that allows them to play through teams and play through the lines.

"They were outnumbering Manchester City in midfield and, because of that, Tielemans was wide open which allowed everyone else to play forward straightaway.

"They had lots of different overloads in their favour."

Catch up on Match of the Day here

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures, including Manchester City's visit to Aston Villa and the London derby between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• West Ham 1-1 Brighton

• Crystal Palace 1-5 Arsenal

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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has been speaking to TNT Sports: "We are always trying to be positive. In some matches, we are maybe not performing as we want but today we performed.

"We are feeling strong. Here we played the first-half very well. In the second-half, we kept possession more and were getting in the box to score the second goal.

"We imposed and dominated more."

On how he is dividing up game time between Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins: "We are in the process with the players keeping their consistency of playing.

"Jhon Duran played fantastic. Ollie Watkins is fantastic as well. It is very important for us. Of course you have to work with both strikers, sometimes they play together.

"I am very happy with them.

On Morgan Rogers' form: "He played fantastic. He is very important. We are getting the performance back through him because he links strikers with midfielders and wingers.

"He was fantastic in the second-half, connecting with strikers and scoring the goals. He has to add goals to his numbers, and today he was fantastic."

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Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has been speaking to TNT Sports: "We knew it was going to be difficult. They have not had results, but we knew they were going to come firing. We knew we needed a reaction in the same way as they did.

"To a man, I thought we were outstanding and I think we deserved the win.

"I try to thrive in big games and I want to show what I'm about. It is nice to perform in the big games.

"Sometimes I will do the hard bit and then struggle to find that bit of quality and have that composure. This season, I have squandered a few chances that I would've liked to score."

On Manchester City's performance: "It felt tougher than it probably looked. They make you work and it is so demanding out of possession.

"We knew we had to be on it from start to finish. On the counter-attack, we were good and that is probably why we won the game."

On Unai Emery's influence: "Everyday he pushes me. He doesn't let me have a second off. He wants the best for me and that's perfect for me.

"We have a good working relationship. I'm not the only one he has improved. I want to keep going on that trajectory and see where it takes me."

On trying to build some momentum: "We had a run of tough games and we didn't play to the standard that we liked, and juggling the new competition [Champions League] was a new challenge."

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Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans has been speaking to BBC Sport about the victory: "We played really well, some really good football and defended when we needed to."

On his pass before the first goal: "I saw the space and just tried to pass it as good as I could, so I'm really happy about it.

"I was a bit freer in the role my manager asked me to play in. The fact we were on the ball more meant that we could play our game.

"It is always calculating the risk, if you want to stay on the ball and be brave. But we really deserved the win. We showed we can play good football."

On Manchester City's poor form: "I'm not here to make the headlines. They are a really good side and you have to be aware of their threat.

"They are on a bad run, I'm sure they will get out of it".

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Aston Villa have won consecutive home league games against Manchester City for the first time since April 1993. They have also defeated the reigning top-flight champions at home in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1975-76 (against Derby) and 1976-77 (against Liverpool).

Jhon Duran has now scored his seventh Premier League goal of the season. Only Jamal Musiala (9) has netted more goals in the big-five European leagues in 2024-25, among all players aged 21 or under.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Man City's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

There are 10 Premier League teams in action on Saturday:

• Aston Villa v Manchester City (12:30)

• Brentford v Nottingham Forest

• Ipswich v Newcastle

• West Ham v Brighton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Crystal Palace v Arsenal (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

For week 17, he takes on Reverend & the Makers singer Jon McClure.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

Aston Villa are 10 points worse off than the same stage of last season, when they were in second place with 35 points from 16 games.

This time, they are seventh and if you look at their results in the Premier League so far then, apart from when they saw off Fulham in October, they have only beaten teams in the bottom half of the table.

I don't want to call them flat-track bullies but they are only getting wins against the weaker teams.

Maybe we have to put Manchester City in that bracket too at the moment, though?

In terms of form over the past eight games then only Leicester and Southampton have picked up fewer points than Pep Guardiola's side.

I keep thinking they will kick back into life, but they actually seem to be getting worse. Everyone is trying to come up with the reason for their poor results - injuries or ageing players, and so on - but they are making basic errors in games and killing themselves.

The smart move for me and anyone else making predictions would be to just back City every week now, because eventually they will come good - but I've not seen anything to suggest it will happen here.

The only thing they won last weekend was 'The Simulation Game' on 606 thanks to Kyle Walker's behaviour against Manchester United. I just hope he is all right to play this weekend.

So, I am certainly not going to say they will win at Villa Park, or keep a clean sheet, but then Villa have not really convinced me to back them either.

McClure's prediction: 2-1

I can't see past Villa here - I don't know where City's next win is going to come from. Even Sheffield Wednesday [who McClure supports] would give them a game at the minute.

Read the full predictions and have your say

Tasnim Chowdhury
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Manchester City (kick-off 12:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery said Tyrone Mings and Leon Bailey will be in the squad for Saturday while Jacob Ramsey is progressing well but is not yet ready for selection.

• He also praised "very good professional" Youri Tielemans, who could make his 200th Premier League appearance.

• On whether the Premier League is more difficult now than when he first came in 2018: "I arrived here two years ago and I was here before. It's always been very difficult."

• He is convinced his side are "trying to get better": "Tactically, emotionally, mentally, we are trying to get experiences - winning and sometimes losing. [We are] trying to be positive as well."

• On Saturday's game against opponents who are struggling: "It's a very tough and very exciting match. Playing Manchester City at home is great motivation for us. It is a very good test."

• On City's current form of eight defeats in 11 matches in all competitions, he said he is "surprised" but "it's football": "They have been the best team for the last years in the Premier League and now maybe they are not being consistent for different circumstances. But they are the best and the coach is the best."

• He also did not rule out City returning to the top of the table: "To be consistent like they are is difficult. They were successful over the last few years and being consistent in everything. They have time to be a winner again in this competition."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Former Aston Villa forward Garry Thompson told BBC Radio West Midlands how important it is to have a settled defence.

Aston Villa's three-match winning run came to an end after they conceded twice late on to lose 2-1 at Nottingham Forest.

"If you're going to do well you need a settled back four," he said. "You make the odd change here and there and obviously you need to give players minutes but you've got to have a settled back four and build from there.

"We've got the best goalkeeper in the world but the keeper needs to have confidence in his back four and the back four needs to have confidence in the keeper - it builds from there.

"We've got [Boubacar] Kamara who's playing ever so well now he's come back from injury, protecting the back four. We should be able to keep clean sheets."

On who should start up front, he added: "I know he's carrying a bit of an injury but I'd keep going with Ollie [Watkins] and then throw [Jhon] Duran on with 20 minutes to go."

Listen back on BBC Sounds

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Former Aston Villa midfielder Marc Albrighton told BBC Radio West Midlands that he would keep forward Jhon Duran in the starting lineup for the side's game against Manchester City on Sunday.

The Colombian took advantage of his second consecutive Premier League start against Nottingham Forest last weekend, scoring the side's only goal in a 2-1 defeat at the City Ground.

"He started at the weekend and he scored again. So I would stick with him up top, and have Watkins come on from the bench. But what a problem to have," said Albrighton.

"I'm a massive fan of Ollie Watkins. I think he offers so much more than goals, his work for the team, his link-up play, is a lot better than Jhon Duran's.

"But I feel like Duran has waited so long for this time, every time he's come in he's scored and he's done well."

Listen back to the full programme now on BBC Sounds