Aston Villa will be hoping to end a 22-year streak when they face Manchester City on Sunday evening.
Since the arrival of Unai Emery in November, the West Midlands outfit have progressed up to 11th position in the Premier League standings.
Rather than preparing themselves for a relegation battle, like they were under Steven Gerrard, Villa are now five points adrift of seventh-placed Brentford.
However, Villa suffered a blow last weekend when they let slip a lead on two occasions to succumb to a 4-2 defeat at home to Leicester City.
That result ended their four-match unbeaten streak in the top flight and prevented them from moving ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool, who also failed to win their respective fixtures.
Villa will now attempt to get back on track at the home of last season's champions, a ground in the Etihad Stadium where they have lost 12 times in succession.
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The defeat in 2021-22 will stand the test of time as being one of City's greatest in their history, overhauling a 2-0 deficit on the final day of the season to win 3-2, a result which saw Pep Guardiola's team edge out Liverpool for the Premier League trophy.
On a positive note, Villa bounced back against the odds when the teams last met in September, earning a 1-1 draw courtesy of Leon Bailey's 74th-minute equaliser.
That has put Villa in a position where they can avoid defeat in both of their top-flight fixtures versus City in a single season for the first time since 2000-01.
On those occasions, still years before either of City's two recent takeovers, Villa collected a 2-2 draw in their home fixture before emerging victorious by a 3-1 scoreline at Maine Road.
Villa will also be attempting to end a run of eight successive defeats against defending Premier League champions on their travels, their last win meeting that criteria coming at Manchester United in 2009.
From City's perspective, they will be looking to avoid losing consecutive league games for the first time since 2018 after their 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on February 5.
Darren Plant
