Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez currently leads the betting odds as the next Aston Villa manager. Martinez is followed by Norwich City manager Paul Lambert and Brighton & Hove Albion manager Guy Poyet.

A new manager is unlikely to be announced right away but it could be as soon as later this week.

Aston Villa have fired manager Alex McCleish after a disappointing 2011-12 English Premier League season. Villa, who have recently been a team finishing in the top half and contending for a Europa League spot struggled and nearly were relegated. The club released their following statement on the website about the decision.

A hat-trick from Carlos Tevez inspired Manchester City to a 6-1 win at Carrow Road today as Man City closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to only two points ahead of Man United's match against Aston Villa tomorrow.

City looked dead and buried after loosing to Arsenal last weekend, but two wins in the week have reignited the title race,

Starting consecutive matches for the first time in 11 months, Tevez curled his side into an 18th-minute lead, before turning provider for Sergio Agüero to make it two.

A recap of La Liga, Man City drops points at home, Russian side Anzhi's ambitious plans to splash money in the summer transfer window, and much more lead today's top stories. Links for all stories below will open in a new window.

Man City salvages a draw but drops points in EPL title race (ESPNSoccernet.

Aston Villa v Manchester City Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 12 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Manchester City can go on top of the table with a draw or win as they travel to face 14th Aston Villa in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

Shay Given set to be declared fit for Aston Villa's clash with Blackburn - Aston Villa FC news - Aston Villa - Sport - Birmingham Mail Given will resume full training tomorrow after being advised to rest up following the slight groin problem he sustained in Saturday's goalless draw at Fulham... And Given is expected to be fit and raring to go for his and McLeish's home debuts in Saturday

It's all Down-ing hill from here Nice to see a new manager really having an effect on his new club, making sure that the players are all taking what he says on board whilst really getting behind their new man for the start of the season. Quotes from Alex McLeish on Stewart Downing: 7th July [...]

Malaysian-listed Genting Group has become the shirt sponsor for English Premier League club, Aston Villa. Its subsidiary, Genting UK, the largest operator of casinos in Britain, entered into an agreement to have the Genting mark and logo on both Villa's home and away shirts. Genting UK executive deputy chairman Peter Brooks in a press statement said the sponsorship was "a natural fit" and marked

The English Premier League's Asian Trophy is a biennial tournament and the only Premier League-affiliated competition to be held outside England. This is the fifth Asia Trophy, the others having previously been held in Kuala Lumpur (2003), Bangkok (2005), Hong Kong (2007) and Beijing (2009). Competing for the Barclays Asia Trophy Hong Kong will be Chelsea, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and the

So, the BSM weekend is upon us. I hope the protesters don't get carried away. Such a ‘walk' can be a healthy and respectful demonstration of one's point but it could easily turn into a complete mess. I don't want to pass any comment on the event before seeing how it turns out so will leave it for the time being.

By Jon Levy Five months ago I wrote a feature for this site entitled MB Donde: What's Next For US Soccer's Best Prospect? The piece was a relatively straightforward look into the club team future of a young Yank on the precipice of his playing prime. Now I'm no Plato or Kant, but in this [...]

The dust has settled on what was a crazy January transfer window. One of the biggest names in world football switched teams, and several up-and-coming players will be plying their trade in new locales. Obviously, much attention has been focused on the move of Fernando Torres to Chelsea, but there was a lot more action.