DPA/London


New Aston Villa manager Remi Garde will get something of a baptism of fire on Sunday when he takes charge of his team for the first time against Premier League leaders Manchester City.
City will arrive at bottom side Villa on a high having sealed their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League with two rounds remaining.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side have won five of their past six matches with Villa and seven out of eight games in all competitions while Villa have lost seven Premier League games on the spin.
It was a run that cost Tim Sherwood his job but former Arsenal player and Lyon manager Garde believes there is talent in his new squad.
“I am quite confident because there are some very good players in the team,” Garde said in an interview with Villa’s official website. “The team is unfortunate at the moment, I think. Hopefully we can pull together and improve the level.
“I have some ideas, of course, because I have watched a lot of the games they have played since the start of the season.
“I just want to work hard - and the players to have more confidence in themselves, in their team-mates, in the team, in the club because I think when you start losing you are getting low in confidence.”
“But I think the current level of the table doesn’t reflect the level of the team.”
City changed their system in midweek with great success as they won 3-1 away to Sevilla and manager Manuel Pellegrini will ask for more of the same.
“I think we must continue with the same personality as this and work the same in Europe and the Premier League,” he said on Tuesday night.
“I don’t divide the competitions. I have a team and I want to play as we did in Seville.”
Arsenal, trailing City only on goal difference at the top, will be hoping to put a 5-1 thrashing by Bayern Munich out of their minds when they play local rivals Tottenham at the Emirates.