Man City v Aston Villa – Line-ups, stats and preview

Match preview for Man City v Aston Villa

Manchester City host Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening in match that could play a decisive role in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Both sides come into the midweek fixture on the back of impressive wins. Manchester City claimed a 2-0 away win at Everton on Saturday, thanks to late goals from Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa dealt a blow to Newcastle, beating the Magpies 4-1 at Villa Park.

The result allowed City to close in on Newcastle, and Pep Guardiola’s team now have 10 points from their last four league games – three of those featuring clean sheets.

City’s home has remained a fortress for the most part in 2025. Only Liverpool and Real Madrid have managed wins at the Etihad this calendar year.

Against Villa specifically, City boast a formidable home record, winning their last 14 meetings in Manchester.

Villa haven’t beaten City on their own turf since 2007, when Stuart Pearce was still in charge pre-takeover. But with their current momentum, this could be the season that curse is broken.

Straight back to work pic.twitter.com/3aTdhsGIl8

— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 20, 2025

Team news for Man City v Aston Villa

City are likely to start Mateo Kovacic, who is on the brink of making his 200th Premier League appearance.

Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji both made the bench last time out and could return to the starting lineup. However, goalkeeper Ederson is sidelined with a groin issue, while Rodri and Nathan Ake are not expected to feature again this season.

Erling Haaland and John Stones are still recovering and unlikely to return before May.

For Villa, Pau Torres missed the weekend clash with a minor issue and remains a doubt. Leon Bailey and Ross Barkley are both back from injury, although Bailey wasn’t part of the matchday squad on Saturday.

Marcus Rashford may be in line for a start as he returns to his home city. Ollie Watkins, who opened the scoring at the weekend, is now tied with Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s top Premier League scorer with 74 goals. He struck the post twice and was unlucky not to break the record outright.

Expected line-ups for Manchester City v Aston Villa

Manchester City: Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic, De Bruyne; McAtee, Foden, Doku; Marmoush

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Kamara, Tielemans; Rogers, McGinn, Rashford; Watkins

Headed to Manchester next pic.twitter.com/S5dKAx9VWz

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 21, 2025

How to watch Manchester City v Aston Villa: TV channel, online stream

Manchester City v Aston Villa will kick-off at 20:00 on Tuesday and is available to watch on Sky Sports in the UK.