Manuel Pellegrini expects City to win Premier League

Manchester City are a step away from becoming champions after beating Aston Villa 4-0 in their penultimate game of the season to move two points clear of Liverpool.

City boss Manuel Pellegrini “expects” his side to seal the Premier League title on Sunday and says they have done it playing the right way.

City’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa effectively means a point against West Ham on the final day will secure their second crown in three seasons.

“Winning the title is very important but so is the way we are going to win it,” said Pellegrini.

“There are many ways to win it but I choose this one – attractive football.”

City had been top of the table for only 11 days of a campaign lasting eight months before returning to the summit with their convincing win over Villa, which saw them score their 100th league goal of the campaign.

Any victory for Pellegrini’s men against a Hammers side who they have already beaten three times this season, scoring 12 goals in the process, will make certain they finish as champions.

Even if they draw, City have a vastly superior goal difference over Liverpool, which means the Reds would need to beat Newcastle by 13 goals in their final fixture to overtake them.

City took advantage of Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace earlier this week with a hard-fought home win over Villa and, due to goal difference, realistically they only need to avoid defeat against West Ham United on Sunday to claim the title.

It was a nervy night at the Etihad Stadium as City failed to break down their spirited opponents in the first half and Villa threatened sporadically on the counter-attack, but Edin Dzeko struck twice after the interval to set them on their way to glory.

He slotted in the opener on 64 minutes from a low Pablo Zabaleta cross and tucked away another close-range finish eight minutes later after Brad Guzan had saved from Samir Nasri.

Substitute Stevan Jovetic added a third in the 89th minute and there was still time for Yaya Toure to score City’s 100th league goal of the season after a blistering run from his own half as Manuel Pellegrini’s side moved to the brink of a second title in three years.