Patrick Vieira has suggested that referees are being unfair on Manchester City.

Vincent Kompany and Mario Balotelli have both been controversially punished by the authorities in recent months.

Kompany was sent off for a two-footed tackle against Manchester United's Nani, while action was taken against Balotelli retrospectively for an alleged stamp on Scott Parker.

"It felt like that anything that City will do will be amplified and we get punished, compared to the other teams and the other players," said Vieira, who is a football development executive at the Etihad Stadium.

"I don't want to think about it because I don't want to say everyone is against City or anything like that, but when you look at the last few decisions, you are asking yourself if something is wrong here, if people don't want us to win the league.

"It seems like if you have one referee you get one decision but if you have a different referee the decision may also be different."

City, who are currently top of the Premier League table, travel to Aston Villa on Sunday.