Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne all return, with Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez all making way.
Dias hasn’t started a game since the 2-0 win over Chelsea last November and will be looking to reclaim a first team berth.
Laporte has also only occasionally started in recent games and will also be hoping this could be the start of a run in the side, though both Dias and Laporte have suffered knocks that have limited their game time since the World Cup.
Phil Foden makes a welcome return on the bench and could feature at some stage.
Line-ups
CITY: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (c), Bernardo, Mahrez, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Ake, Alvarez, Gomez, Akanji, Foden, Palmer, Lewis
VILLA: Martinez, Young, Chambers, Konsa, Digne, Luiz, Ramsey, Kamara, Buendia, Bailey, Watkins
Subs: Sinsalo, Cash, McGinn, Moreno, Coutinho, Dendoncker, Zych, Swinkels
Formation and tactics
This is a tough call!
If we assume Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte will make the central defensive partnership, that would leave no recognised left-back.
Kyle Walker is playing, so we could be going three at the back, with Rodrigo and Ilkay Gundogan just in front of the defence.
In turn, that would leave Bernardo and Kevin De Bruyne as the more advanced midfielders, with Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish on either flank and Erling Haaland as the lone striker.
We won’t know for sure until kick-off!
City look to close gap
With Brentford again showing what they are capable of against teams above them in the table on Saturday, City can’t afford to miss another opportunity to close the gap on Arsenal.
The Gunners’ defeat last weekend against Everton felt like a golden chance to close the gap for the Blues, but a 1-0 loss at Spurs felt like a big chance missed.
Brentford’s 1-1 draw at the Emirates has offered Pep Guardiola’s men a chance to halve the six-point gap ahead of Wednesday’s trip to face Arsenal.
It won’t be easy this afternoon – Unai Emery’s side have been particularly effective on the road – but it feels like a must-win game for City.
Stats and facts
- City have won our last 12 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and secure the Premier League title on the final day last season.
- Following their 1-1 draw at Villa Park in September, Aston Villa are looking to avoid defeat in both Premier League meetings with City in a season for the first time since 2000-01, when they drew 2-2 at home and won 3-1 at Maine Road.
- Aston Villa have won just one of their last 29 away league games against reigning top-flight champions (D6 L22), beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in December 2009 under Martin O’Neill. They’ve lost their last eight such games by an aggregate score of 26-6.
- City have lost four Premier League games this season, already more than we did in the whole of 2021-22 (3). We lost 1-0 at Tottenham last time out but haven’t lost consecutive league games since December 2018.
- Aston Villa have won all three of their Premier League away games under Unai Emery, with John Gregory the only manager in Villa’s league history to win his first four on the road (first 5 between March-May 1998). Villa last won four consecutive top-flight away games between November 2008 and February 2009 (7).
- Aston Villa have scored at least once in their eight Premier League games under Unai Emery, with their 14 goals scored in these matches as many as they’d netted in their previous 15 combined. The Villans last had a longer scoring streak in the top-flight between March and May 2010 (10 games).
- This will be City boss Pep Guardiola‘s 250th Premier League game as manager. He’s the 29th manager to reach this milestone in the competition, while only five managers have more wins than the Spaniard (183). Indeed, Guardiola has the highest win rate of any permanent manager in Premier League history (73.5%).
- Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has never beaten City’s Pep Guardiola in 12 previous meetings in all competitions, drawing four and losing eight. His first ever Premier League game in charge came against Guardiola‘s City, and a 2-0 defeat with Arsenal at the Emirates in August 2018.
- As well as being the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 25 goals, Erling Haaland‘s strikes have earned City a league-high 18 points. However, last time out against Tottenham, the Norwegian failed to register a single shot or touch in the opposition penalty area in 90 minutes.
- Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is looking to score in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time. He last scored in three straight league appearances in August 2018 with Brentford in the Championship.
