Key events
Unai Emery: “It is a very good test”
“It’s a very tough and very exciting match,” said Villa’s manager. “Playing Manchester City at home is great motivation for us. It is a very good test.
“They have been the best team for the last years in the Premier League and now maybe they are not being consistent for different circumstances. But they are the best and the coach is the best.
“To be consistent like they are is difficult. They were successful over the last few years and being consistent in everything. They have time to be a winner again in this competition.”
Pep Guardiola: “I am fine”
“I handle the good moments – I handle good the bad moments,” said Manchester City’s manager in his pre-match press conference. “I have had bad ones in my career as a manager but we were able to come back and now it takes longer.
“I take experience with that. I have had 40 days of bad days in terms of results. That is the truth when you compare to eight years which is much better. There have been eight years of incredible [results] and now we have 40-45 days of [bad results].
“I am fine. I am a normal person with feelings like all of us. When a situation is going well, we are better and when it is not going well professionally, we are more [focused] on what we have to do.”
Those teams: Along with Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins has to make do with a place on the Villa bench, with Jhon Duran starting ahead of him. Amadou Onana starts in midfield, with Diego Carlos dropping out.
Pep Guardiola makes six changes to the team that started against Manchester United last weekend, with Kyle Walker and Kevin de Bruyne among the notable absentees.
Ederson has failed a fitness test and is replaced by Stefan Ortega, while Jack Grealish gets a rare start for the champions against his former club.
Aston Villa v Manchester City line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Duran
Substitutes: Bogarde, Buendia, Barkley, Watkins, Mings, Maatsen, Nedeljkovic, Bailey, Olsen
Manchester City: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Savinho, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Peter Bankes.
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Assistants: Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh.
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Fourth official: Andy Madley.
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VAR: Darren England.
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Assistant VAR: Darren Cann.
Early team news
The big news from the City camp is that Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake have joined long-term absentees Oscar Bobb and Rodri on the sidelines, but Pep Guardiola will be able to call on John Stones and Mateo Kovacic, who are both reported to be fit and available for selection. Rico Lewis is also back from suspension, but Ederson’s participation is in doubt.
Villa striker Ollie Watkins has recovered from injury but will have to settle for a place on the bench if the in-form Jhon Duran gets the nod from Unai Emery ahead of him. Leon Bailey is back from a short spell out with injury but Jacob Ramsey remains out.
Premier League: Aston Villa v Man City
Well, now. With team confidence at rock bottom after just one win in their past 11 (eleven!) games in all competitions, Manchester CIty travel to Villa Park hoping to electro-shock their flatlining title hopes back into life with a much-needed victory.
It’s a match few expect them to win given their current abysmal form but their hosts are unlikely to take today’s task lightly, having emerged from a mini-slump of their own before hitting the canvas courtesy of two late sucker-punches from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga in their match against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Kick-off at Villa Park is at 12.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
