Man City were held to a 0-0 draw by Arsenal at home on Sunday and two dropped points mean the Etihad outfit are now three points adrift from the top of the Premier League table.
Next up, they have a very tricky encounter in the form of Aston Villa and Manchester City have already lost to Villa once this season in the league. Villa are five points behind MCFC so if they can win in midweek then Unai Emery’s side will come within touching distance of the defending champions.
Villa have been stellar under Unai Emery this season and they are currently unbeaten in 8 away games but Man City are in even better form because they have not tasted defeat in their previous 23 encounters.
The firepower that the home side has should see them come out on top but this one will be a very tricky contest for Guardiola’s men. Firstly, they have had limited rest after Sunday’s fierce battle and their next two matches are against Palace and then Real Madrid in the UCL.
Manchester City’s team news and injuries:
Ederson has been sidelined since March 10 with a leg injury and he remains a doubt for when Villa come to town.
Kyle Walker missed the Arsenal game due to injuries and it’s unsure if he will be fit to play in midweek or not. John Stones shook off his injury and made it to the bench and the defender should be available to start.
It was Akanji who played at right back on Sunday and with Walker missing, he will keep playing in that role while Stones will come into central defence to replace Nathan Ake. Ake is the latest addition to City’s injury list after he was replaced by Rico Lewis in the first half against Arsenal with an unspecified injury.
“It is what it is,” Guardiola told Sky Sports when asked but Ake’s injury and his other injured players[h/t Standard]. “[Ake] played two games this week [including] with the national team in Holland.
“John will be better soon, I think. Kyle will be longer, now Nathan will be longer.”
The Man City manager used two CDMs on Sunday but for the Villa game, he is going to rest Mateo Kovacic which will allow him to bring in another wide player.
Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku both came off the bench vs Arsenal however in midweek, Pep is going to rely on Doku instead of Grealish. Jack Grealish has fallen down the pecking order this season and there are even talks that Man City want to offload him in the summer.
Doku’s addition will see Phil Foden move to the right-hand side while Silva and KDB play as the two advanced midfielders.
Haaland might be a prolific goalscorer for club and country but the Norwegian goes missing against the big boys and the same was the case on Sunday. Against Arsenal, he had an xG of just 0.31 plus he missed one major chance to put Man City in the lead.
Man City predicted line up vs Aston Villa:
Predicted Starting line up(4-1-4-1): Ortega; Gvardiol, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Akanji; Rodri; Doku, Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Silva; Haaland.
