Manchester City hosts Aston Villa in the 31st match of the 2023/2024 Premier League. The duel between the two teams is scheduled to take place at the Etihad Stadium, Thursday (4/4/2024) at 02.15 local time.
This match will be an important moment for The Citizens to return to winning ways. As is known, last season's champions failed to achieve dominant results in the last two matches against Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola's men were only able to gain one additional point in each match after being held to a draw by their rival duo. As a result, now they are still locked in 3rd place with 64 points from 29 matches.
Manchester City is 3 points behind leaders Liverpool and one point behind Arsenal who are in second place.
Facing Aston Villa, Manchester City actually had the advantage because they appeared at home. Even so, Erling Haaland and his friends still cannot underestimate their opponents, considering that Villa has bagged a win from their latest Premier League match.
Unai Emery's team recorded a 2-0 lead when they hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 30th week of the 2023/2024 Premier League match. This result gives them the right to sit in 4th position in the standings with a 2 point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur who is looming in 5th place.
Meanwhile, reflecting on previous meetings, The Citizens also have more reasons to be wary of Aston Villa. They once made things difficult for the defending champions by winning 1-0 in the last duel between the two teams at Villa Park, last December 2023.
Squad Conditions Ahead of Manchester City vs Aston Villa
Manchester City is also facing other pressures from within the squad ahead of the match in Week 31 of the Premier League. Their defense line is threatened with weakness because defender Nathan Ake experienced a problem which resulted in him being withdrawn in the first half against Arsenal last weekend.
The Citizen's goalkeeper Ederson and defender Kyle Walker have also not recovered from injuries. As a result, Pep Guardiola has had to rack his brains over the shocks at the back, with SportsMole reporting that Rico Lewis is likely to be named as a replacement for Nathan Ake.
As for the Aston Villa camp, problems were also felt by Emery's Union troops. Different from City, which is porous in defense, it is feared that the visiting team will appear less sharp following problems in the attack line.
His player, Ollie Watkins, suffered a hamstring injury during Aston Villa's win over Wolves, so he had to be replaced by Jhon Duran. It was also confirmed that he would not be able to appear in the Premier League this week, because he had to join Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia and Matty Cash who were in the treatment room.
Manchester City Vs Aston Villa Player Lineup Prediction
Manchester City: Stefan Ortega; Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol; Rodri, Mateo Kovacic; Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne; Leon Bailey, Douglas Luiz, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers; Moussa Diaby, John Duran
Head-to-head Manchester City Vs Aston Villa
5 Last Meetings Manchester City Vs Aston Villa
07/12/2023: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City (Premier League)
12/02/2023: Man City 3-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
03/09/2022: Aston Villa 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
05/22/2022: Man City 3-2 Aston Villa (Premier League)
02/12/2021: Aston Villa 1-2 Man City (Premier League)
Manchester City's Last 5 Matches
03/03/2024: Man City 3-1 MU (Premier League)
07/03/2024: Man City 3-1 Copenhagen (Champions League)
10/03/2024: Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
17/03/2024: Man City 2-0 Newcastle (FA Cup)
03/31/2024: Man City 0-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Aston Villa's Last 5 Matches
08/03/2024: Ajax 0-0 Aston Villa (Conference League)
10/03/2024: Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham (Premier League)
03/15/2024: Aston Villa 4-0 Ajax (Conference League)
17/03/2024: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa (Premier League)
31/03/2024: Aston Villa 2-0 Wolverhampton (Premier League)