WHEN AND WHERE
Pep Guardiola’s side will travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday 21 April, with kick-off scheduled for 20:15 BST (8:15pm UK).
The game will be broadcasted live on Sky Sports for supporters in the UK. Fans from across the globe can check out how they can view Saturday’s clash in the TV Listings at the foot of the page.
If you are unable to watch the game be sure to check in here on ManCity.com, as we will be bringing you live, minute-by-minute updates via our Matchday Centre.
We will also have a full, post-match reaction including a match report, Pep Guardiola‘s reaction and the view of our players.
You can also follow updates on the game over on Twitter: @ManCity, and catch a full-match replay on City+ from midnight.
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TEAM NEWS
Ilkay Gundogan returns and captains the side as City make eight changes for tonight’s return to Premier League action at Aston Villa.
With a busy fixture schedule still in full swing, manager Pep Guardiola has again opted to freshen things up from the team that played in last Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
Alongside the return of German midfielder Gundogan, goalkeeper Ederson, Kyle Walker, Oleks Zinchenko, John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez all come back into the starting eleven.
Keeper Zack Steffen, Joao Cancelo, Benjamin Mendy, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling and Ferran Torres revert to the bench.
Kevin De Bruyne is sidelined with the ankle injury that forced him off against Chelsea last Saturday whilst Sergio Aguero also remains unavailable.
TEAMS
City: Ederson, Walker, Zinchenko, Dias, Stones, Rodrigo, Gundogan ©, Bernardo, Foden, Jesus, Mahrez
Subs: Steffen, Ake, Laporte, Mendy, Cancelo, Garcia, Fernandinho, Sterling, Torres
Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings (C), Targett, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Nakamba, Traore, Watkins, Ramsey
Subs: Heaton, Hause, Taylor, Engels, El Ghazi, Barkley, Chukwuemeka, Elmohamady, Davis
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WE’RE NOT REALLY HERE
We’re Not Really Here will begin one hour before kick-off and provides you with a City-focused build-up to our Premier League clash, and is available to view on all of our digital platforms.
We will head back to the studio at half-time to take a look at the first 45 minutes, before returning at the full-time whistle for a full-post match reaction from our special guests.
And there’ll also be a special edition of We’re Not Really here previewing our WSL game at home to Chelsea. That one gets under way at 17:45.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Neil Davies, Harry Lennard
Fourth official: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Jarred Gillet
Assistant VAR: Stephen Child
PEP PREVIEW
“I am pretty sure the players will be ready like they have been.
“In this business we have, the most honest and best are the players. The rest...the only ones we can trust to make us happy and enjoy good moments in our lives are the players.
“It’s absolutely a final for us, then a final against Tottenham and after the Champions League.
“We spoke altogether – the players spoke together. We have ahead of us six weeks and we play for all the season and for sure we are not going to be distracted when we are there.”
FORM GUIDE
Manchester City’s three-match winning run in the top-flight was abruptly halted by Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium in our last league fixture, with the visitors securing a 2-1 victory after a stoppage-time winner.
Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten away from home in the Premier League since November’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, winning nine and drawing one since.
On the other hand, Dean Smith’s Villa side have only won one of their last five league matches, suffering defeat last time out against Liverpool at Anfield.
Their last defeat at Villa Park came last month, as Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham ran out 2-0 winners.
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LAST MEETING
The reverse fixture in January at the Etihad Stadium ended in a 2-0 victory for City, with Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan scoring late on.
Guardiola’s side scored twice in the final 11-minutes to claim the three points which saw us leapfrog Leicester City and Manchester United to the summit of the league table, though the latter reclaimed the top spot with their victory over Fulham later in the evening.
The hosts registered 28 shots to the visitors’ 11, but had to wait until the 79th minute to break the deadlock when Bernardo fired into the top corner from the edge of the area after Rodrigo had dispossessed Tyrone Mings deep in the Villa half.
Referee John Moss waved away Villa’s appeals about the Spanish midfielder recovering from an offside position before making the tackle, with manager Dean Smith sent off for his protests.
It got worse for Villa in the final minute, when Moss awarded a penalty after Matty Cash handled Gabriel Jesus’ headed effort and Gundogan made no mistake as he sent the spot-kick straight down the middle.
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STATS
- City are unbeaten away from home in the Premier League since November’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, winning nine and drawing one since.
- City are the league’s top scorers so far, netting 67 times in 32 matches.
- City also boast the best defensive record, conceding just 23 times in 32 matches - keeping 17 clean sheets in the process.
- Aston Villa have the third-best defensive record in the top-flight behind City and Chelsea, conceding 33 times.
TV LISTINGS
Check out how you can tune into Wednesday’s clash via the TV listings below.
News about A Villa v Man City
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Pep Guardiola's side will travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday 21 April, with kick-off scheduled for 20:15 BST (8:15pm UK). Read more
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Find out how you can watch our Premier League clash at Villa Park, wherever you are in the world. Read more
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