Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland come out of the side that drew with Arsenal on Sunday.
Of those, Ake is the only player not to be named in the matchday squad. The Dutch defender was withdrawn in the first half of the stalemate with the Gunners due to injury.
Rico Lewis, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez replace them in the XI.
City v Aston Villa | Match preview
We’re unbeaten since our trip to Aston Villa in December, 23 games ago.
Victory tonight would see us go level on points with current leaders Liverpool, who play Sheffield United on Thursday.
Second-placed Arsenal host Luton Town at 19:30 (UK) this evening.
Tonight’s opponents Aston Villa are fourth in the league with 59 points.
Teams
CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Doku, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez
Subs: Carson, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland, De Bruyne, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Susoho
ASTON VILLA XI: Martinez, Konsa, Carlos, Lenglet, Digne, Iroegbunum, Luiz, Zaniolo, Rogers, Diaby, Duran
Subs: Gauci, Olsen, Tielemans, Torres, Moreno, Chambers, Kesler-Hayden, Bailey, Kellyman
Tactics
Stefan Ortega Moreno will be protected by a back four of Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, captain Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.
Rodrigo will be at the base of the midfield, with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden expected to be pushing on ahead of him.
On the wings, expect to see Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish working to supply Julian Alvarez.
23 unbeaten
City haven’t suffered defeat since we last came up against Aston Villa back in early December.
Since then we’ve played 23 times across the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup without losing.
Over that time, we have won 19 times and drawn on four occasions.
That run has seen us lift the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and safely to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and final four of the FA Cup.
In the Premier League, we’re three points behind leaders Liverpool and one back from Arsenal.
Match stats
• We have won 17 of our last 18 Premier League home games against Aston Villa (L1), winning the last 13 in a row since a 2-0 loss in April 2007.
• Aston Villa have won just one of their last 30 away league games against reigning top-flight champions (D6 L23), beating Manchester United 1-0 in December 2009. The Villans have lost their last nine such games by an aggregate score of 29-7.
• We have won 27 of our last 29 Premier League games played on a Wednesday (D1 L1), with the sole defeat in that run coming against Aston Villa in the reverse fixture. At home, we’ve won our last 19 Wednesday league games, and are unbeaten in 30 (W26 D4) since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham in May 2010.
• We have won 19 of our last 21 Premier League games in April (D1 L1), and are unbeaten in 11 since a 2-1 home loss to Leeds United in 2021.
• Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last five Premier League away games (W3 D2), though their last defeat on the road was in Manchester (2-3 vs Man Utd in December). The Villans last had a longer unbeaten run away from home in the competition between November 2008 and February 2009 (7).
• Following their 1-0 win at Villa Park in December, Aston Villa are looking to secure their first league double over Manchester City since the 1962-63 campaign.
• Leon Bailey scored Aston Villa’s winner against Manchester City in the reverse fixture – the last Villa player to score home and away league goals against us in the same campaign was Juan Pablo Angel in 2003-04.
