Manchester City vs Aston Villa (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

The reigning Premier League champions look to return to winning ways and record what would be a pivotal victory as they welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium.

Over the weekend, City took on Arsenal in what had the potential to be one of the more impactful matches of the season given the ongoing three-way title race. The match itself wasn’t full of action in the traditional sense, providing fans with more of a tactical game.

Both sides had several chances whether it was Nathan Ake’s point-blank header early in the match denied by David Raya, or former City forward Gabriel Jesus sending a shot wide of the goal on two separate occasions in the first half.

The contest would go into the second period of time tied at 0-0, and despite both sides making substitutions including Mikel Arteta deciding to bring on Gabriel Martinelli – a player who proved the difference in October – the match would end in a draw awarding both sides a point.

As a result of the deadlock, Liverpool – who came from behind against Brighton earlier in the day, now find themselves in pole position at the top of the league and two points above Arsenal, as well as three points ahead of Manchester City.

On the other side of Wednesday night’s ticket sits Aston Villa, who come into the match off the back of a dominant 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to scoring efforts from Moussa Diaby and Ezri Konsa.

Ahead of the midweek meeting between Manchester City and Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, here is everything you need to know for the contest between two of the division’s best teams this season.

Fixture Details

Manchester City are scheduled to welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday 3 April, with kick-off booked in for 20:15 (UK).

Team News

Nathan Ake will be ruled out of action on Wednesday night following his suspected calf problem sustained inside the opening 30 minutes of Sunday afternoon’s stalemate with Arsenal. Speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon, manager Pep Guardiola said, “Hopefully, he’ll be back soon. I don’t know exactly the timing, for sure, the next games he won’t be ready.”

The Dutch defender will not be the only Manchester City unavailable for the contest too, as the Catalan coach confirmed that a duo of Kyle Walker and Ederson will continue to sit out of action due to their ongoing respective recovery processes.

However, John Stones could feature having avoided a more serious problem with England during the international break. Stones was a late addition to Sunday’s squad against Arsenal but ultimately remained on the sidelines as Rico Lewis took the spot of the injured Ake.

Explaining the situation of his versatile defender during the address with the media around the meeting with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola said, “He (John Stones) has to feel fully fit. But the injury was less than we expected.” We’ll see, for today or maybe for the next games, he’ll be ready.”

As for Aston Villa, star striker Ollie Watkins is ruled out through a hamstring problem, while a foot injury will prevent Jacob Ramsey from playing any part in the fixture, as confirmed by manager Unai Emery.

Head to Head

In their previous five meetings, Manchester City have managed to establish some element of dominance having recorded two wins, but this was not the case when the two sides met in early December.

In that meeting, Unai Emery’s side stunned Pep Guardiola’s men with a 1-0 victory thanks to a deflected strike from Leon Bailey in the latter half of the match, and in an outing that many will regard as one of Manchester City’s worst outings of the season so far.

Statistics

• Manchester City have won 17 of their last 18 Premier League home games against Aston Villa (L1), winning the last 13 in a row since a 2-0 loss in April 2007.

• Following their 1-0 win at Villa Park in December, Aston Villa are looking to secure their first league double over Manchester City since the 1962/63 campaign.

• Aston Villa have won just one of their last 30 away league games against reigning top-flight champions (D6 L23), beating Manchester United 1-0 in December 2009. The Villans have lost their last nine such games by an aggregate score of 29-7.

• Manchester City have won 27 of their last 29 Premier League games played on a Wednesday (D1 L1), with their sole defeat in that run coming against Aston Villa in the reverse fixture. At home, they’ve won their last 19 Wednesday league games, and are unbeaten in 30 (W26 D4) since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham in May 2010.

• Manchester City have won 19 of their last 21 Premier League games in April (D1 L1), and are unbeaten in 11 since a 2-1 home loss to Leeds United in 2021.

How to Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can view Wednesday’s match live on TNT Sports.

For viewers in the United States, you can view the contests live on Peacock, with kick-off scheduled for 3:15PM (EST).

For viewers elsewhere in the world, you can find out how to watch here!

You can also follow the match on the City Xtra Youtube Channel via our live WatchAlong show!