Manchester City v Aston Villa: Premier League – live

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Unai Emery speaks to Sky Sports. “Good evening … the match today … game 34 … now we are going to play for three points … to be consistent is the most important … the demand for us will be huge … a challenge … try to dominate … duels … feel comfortable … we know all the difficulties we are going to face … it is not a final but it is important … City are favourites … we are motivated and I am very excited.”

He’s pushed on picking Marcus Rashford ahead of the in-form and fuming Ollie Watkins, but won’t be drawn, instead simply repeating the word “collective”.

Ollie Watkins has a point. What is the appropriate response to losing your starting place in a team you helped drive into the Champions League, to a loan player who has one goal in nine league games? Watkins said he was “furious” and – also, just to be clear – “angry” after being replaced by Marcus Rashford in attack for the prime games against Paris Saint-Germain. He played like it against Newcastle, scoring after 23 seconds, his 15th of the season in the league, and hitting the woodwork twice. Unai Emery made the entirely correct point in victory that football is a squad game and Watkins a fantastic team player. But he is also 30 this year, Villa’s best forward and would slot nicely into the first XIs of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Maybe don’t make him too angry.

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