Switch article view:Match preview Man City look to add to Aston Villa's unhappiness
By Julian Shea.
Kick off Sunday 12 February 2012 at 16:00, Villa Park.
Appointing the former manager of your most bitter rivals is always something of a calculated risk - and Aston Villa are now finding out to their own cost that it has not worked.
Trying to work out how to beat league leaders Manchester City when his side have not won at home in the league since early November should have been more than enough to keep Villa boss Alex McLeish occupied this week, but now he finds himself having to deal with hostility from fans, and public dissent from his players.
A group of Villa fans plan a protest march before Sunday's game to make their feelings about McLeish known, and winger Charles N'Zogbia has been on twitter this week speaking about how unhappy he is - so whichever way McLeish looks, he seems to see unhappy faces demanding change.
One change he is likely to make is to Villa's defence, with the out of form Stephen Warnock a likely casualty.
Right back Eric Lichaj made a successful switch to left in a midweek reserve game, and Nathan Baker is also available, and with James Collins back in training, he too could be an option.
Manchester United's comeback to draw at Chelsea last weekend sent out a very clear message to league leaders City - if you want our league title, you'll have to fight us for it.
City have endured a bit of a rocky patch by their own standards lately, but crucially they have held on to top spot despite the absence of several top players, so they will look forward to getting this game out of the way before they are restored to full strength for the title run-in.
Mario Balotelli is absent as he serves the last game of a four-match ban, and it is the last game that Kolo and Yaya Toure will miss because of African Cup of Nations duty.
Captain Vincent Kompany returns after a knee injury, pushing Stefan Savic out of the side, and midfielder Samir Nasri should be fit despite limping off with a groin injury in last weekend's win over Fulham.
Listen to our football experts Russ Williams, Jim Proudfoot and Ian Wright for a look ahead to the weekend's games in Friday's edition of Ian Wright's podcast.
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