LONDON (SE) - Aston Villa host Manchester City at Villa Park on Monday evening in a game that impacts both ends of the table.
Paul Lambert's Aston Villa (5-9-13) go into the game in the bottom three, but the manager is confident the most established top-flight club in the relegation scrap will be able to avoid the drop.
"We have got big games, massive games still to come," said Lambert. "There will be a lot of twists and turns over the next couple of months.
"People ask if it's now three teams from four but there are a few teams there who will be looking over their shoulder. I don't know what teams it might be but you always find a surprise somewhere. But we are certainly playing well enough (to stay up). We have belief in ourselves that we will always be okay. The way they are playing, honestly I can't ask for anymore."
Visitors Man City (16-8-3) are 12 points behind neighbours Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table, and have Tottenham just five points behind in third, but manager Roberto Mancini believes it is too early to write-off his team's chances in the title race.
"In football, it's finished when it's finished - in the last minute of the last game," said Mancini. "If we arrive with four games to go and United are 12 points ahead, it's finished, but our job is to continue to work.
"For us, it's not important to look at the table, only to play well and to improve because we can improve. Only this and maybe look at the table in one month."
Aston Villa have doubts over Shay Given (groin), Darren Bent (ankle), Ron Vlaar (shin), Chris Herd (ankle) and Richard Dunne (groin), but Marc Albrighton (ankle), Gary Gardner (knee) remain out, and Stilyan Petrov's struggle against leukaemia continues. Man City have doubts over the fitness of Maicon (knee), Gareth Barry (knock), Vincent Kompany (shin) and Micah Richards (knee).
Villa won 2-1 against West Ham United in their last home game - ending a four-match losing streak on their own patch. However, Lambert's side have only managed 11 goals at home all season - only QPR have fewer with eight - and have managed just one win in their last 10 league matches overall.
Christian Benteke has scored five goals in his last five games for Aston Villa, but Monday's opponents also have a key striker - City have won 23 of the 24 games in which Sergio Aguero has scored.
Mancini's side have already dropped 25 points this season - as many as they dropped in winning the Premier League last season - and lost their last away game in the league, against Southampton. A defeat on Monday would be City's first back-to-back losses since April 2011.
Man City hammered Villa 5-0 when these teams met at the Etihad Stadium in November. Aguero and Carlos Tevez and both scored second-half braces after David Silva had opened the scoring just two minutes before halftime.
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