Manchester City v Aston Villa: English Premier League Match, Team News, Goal Scorers and Stats

Date :Saturday 26th, October
Time: 12:30pm
Stadium Etihad
Referee Graham Scott (England)
Goal Scorer:

Team News:
Manchester City
This will be Manchester City’s first home game since the 2-0 humbling by Wolves a couple of weeks ago and Villa arrive on the back of three unbeaten looking to take advantage.

Pep Guardiola will hoping their 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace will be the start of a winning run following an uncharacteristic performance against Wolves.

They will have to be at their best in order to see off a Villa side that have suddenly found some confidence having put together a decent run of three games without defeat in the Premier League.
 

The Champions have it all to do and will not want to drop any more points as they bid to chase down the six-point gap between themselves and Liverpool that already exists at this early stage of the campaign.

Manchester City have dropped five points at home after four matches, two more than they did in the whole of last season and Pep Guardiola has never lost back-to-back home games in his managerial career – a record he will be looking to protect on Saturday.

Villa will be a tough opponent but there are no easy games in the Premier League – something City are finding out this season more than usual.
Rodri picked up what looked like a hamstring injury against Atalanta in the Champions League and is waiting for a firm diagnosis of the problem meaning he will miss out in this one.

Defender Oleksandr Zinchenko is facing a spell on the sidelines after having knee surgery. He has flown out to Spain for treatment.

John Stones could make his first start since September which would be a very welcome sight for both City and England fans.

Both Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte are not due to return until the new year.

Predicted XI: Ederson; Cancelo, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy; Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva; Bernardo, Sterling, Jesus.

Aston Villa
Dean Smith’s men recovered from defeat against Arsenal with a 2-2 draw at home to Burnley before back-to-back wins against Norwich – an emphatic 5-1 victory – and a tightly fought 2-1 win against Brighton at Villa Park.
Aston Villa have some better news on the injury front with James Chester available for the first time this season while both Jonathan Kodjia and Kourtney Hause are fit again and could feature.

The only confirmed absentee is Jota who continues to recover from a hernia operation.

Predicted XI: Heaton; Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett; Nakamba, Hourihane, McGinn; El Ghazi, Grealish, Wesley.

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Last Five Meetings: Man City vs Aston Villa
04 October 2014: Aston Villa 0-2 Man City (Premier League)

25 April 2015: Man City 3-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)

08 November 2015: Aston Villa 0-0 Man City (Premier League)

30 January 2016: Aston Villa 0-4 Man City (FA Cup)

05 March 2016: Man City 4-0 Aston Villa (Premier League)

Aggregate Score: Man City (WWDWW) 13-2 Aston Villa (LLDLL)

Scoreline Prediction: Man City 3-1 Aston Villa