Pep Guardiola has made three changes to the side that beat Crystal Palace at the weekend, with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus the trio who drop to the bench.
CHECK OUT OUR PRE-MATCH WARM UP RANGE
Eric Garcia is back in the matchday squad after a five-game absence due to Coronavirus and he is joined on the bench by fellow Academy graduate Adrian Bernabe, who has also been forced to self-isolate in recent weeks.
TEAMS
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Foden, Sterling.
SUBS: Steffen, Jesus, Zinchenko, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Mahrez, Garcia, Bernabe.
ASTON VILLA: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Traore, Grealish, Barkley, Watkins.
SUBS: Heaton, Taylor, Guilbert, Engels, Elmohamady, Nakamba, Ramsey, El Ghazi, Davis.
FORMATION AND SQUAD NOTES
With Jesus amongst the substitutes, the central position in the forward line is the one position where we will have to wait until kick-off to find out who starts there.
Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling and Foden have all played there previously and could well interchange across the attacking trident throughout the game.
The rest of the team should be as expected, with Cancelo returning to left-back as Kyle Walker retains his place on the opposite side.
Ruben Dias and John Stones continue their brilliant partnership at the heart of defence and will be protected by Rodrigo at the base of midfield, with Ilkay Gundogan and captain Kevin De Bruyne operating ahead of him.
FACTS AND STATS
- City have won 14 of our past 15 home league games against Villa, including the last 10 by an aggregate score of 33-4.
- The visitors are winless in nine meetings in all competitions, drawing once and losing eight.
- Villa’s most recent league win at the Etihad Stadium was 2-0 in April 2007.
- We are on a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions and have won our past eight fixtures.
- We have taken 23 points from the last 27 available to us and have won five matches in a row in the league.
- In that period, we have conceded just three goals in 22 hours and 55 minutes.
- Guardiola‘s side have kept six clean sheets in nine home fixtures so far in 2020-21.
- We have only lost one of our past 22 home games in all competitions, winning 19 and drawing two.
- City have conceded only once in the 10 matches John Stones and Ruben Dias have played together at centre-back.
- Ilkay Gundogan has scored four goals in his past six league appearances.
