Manchester City face Aston Villa in the Premier League tonight, with both sides looking to land a potentially vital blow in the race for Champions League qualification.
City start the week in the qualification spots after last weekend’s 2-0 win over Everton, though they are only a point ahead of seventh-placed Villa with five games left to play.
While Pep Guardiola’s side have favourable fixtures as they look to book a place in the top five, a win tonight could be key against an in-form Villa side.
And Unai Emery’s team – who face a more difficult path to make it back to Europe’s top cup competition – will be buoyed by recent performances as they look to leapfrog City for now.
Follow all the latest build-up, team news and updates from the Etihad below:
Match facts
City are on a run of nine successive home league victories in the month of April, scoring 35 goals and conceding eight.
Villa have won five consecutive Premier League fixtures for the first time since April 2023. They have never won six in a row in the competition.
Pep Guardiola fears targets will go elsewhere if Man City miss Champions League
After winning the last four Premier League titles during an unprecedented spell of domestic dominance, the goal this term is to earn a place back at European football’s top table.
City sit fifth having recovered from an awful end to 2024, but they have work to do in the fight for a Champions League spot that may have a bearing on who they can attract this summer.
‘Beating City would be a statement win for Villa’
“The best team in the country over the previous four years against the best in the last few weeks? Possibly.
“Aston Villa have 10 wins in 11 and have been superb for much of that time. But even in the context of victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle, beating City would be a statement win for Villa.
“Unai Emery tends to rotate and has benched Ollie Watkins, after his superb display on Saturday, and the captain John McGinn.
“Guardiola has surprised by recalling James McAtee for what must be the biggest game of his career.”
Match facts
Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in five Premier League fixtures, winning three and drawing two.
Unai Emery’s side have won 10 of their past 11 matches in all competitions, with the exception being a defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Man City, Chelsea and Aston Villa: Who has the best run-in?
With just five matches remaining of the Premier League season, only three points separate third and seventh in the race for Champions Leaguequalification.
But with several of the sides in third to seventh still set to play each other as well as the champions-elect and relegated sides, which teams are best placed to finish in the top five come the end of May?
Team news – Aston Villa
Five changes for Villa, with Pau Torres returning to partner Ezri Konsa in defence, while Lucas Digne replaces Ian Maatsen. Amadou Onana also starts while Tyrone Mings misses out altogether.
Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford are preferred in attack, with Marco Asensio among the substitutes along with John McGinn.
The big surprise is that Ollie Watkins is still on the bench, despite scoring and registering an assist in the 4-1 win over Newcastle, and loudly voicing his frustration at his lack of starts recently.
Likely, Emery has one eye on their upcoming FA Cup semi-final.
Team news – Man City
Pep Guardiola has made two changes from City’s win over Everton, with Kovacic and McAtee coming in for Nico Lewis and Savinho.
Ortega remains between the sticks with Ederson out injured. O’Reilly’s fine performance at Goodison Park is rewarded with a starting berth.
Line-ups – Aston Villa
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne, Onana, Kamara, Tielemans, Ramsey, Rogers, Rashford.
Substitutes: Olsen, Maatsen, Garcia, Disasi, McGinn, Barkley, Malen, Asensio, Watkins.
Line-ups – Man City
Man City XI: Ortega, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne, McAtee, Bernardo, Marmoush
Substitutes: Carson, Grealish, Doku, Nico, Akanji, Savinho, Khusanov, Foden, Lewis
Team news
Here’s a reminder of the team news – line-ups should be announced in the next five minutes.
Ederson may miss out again due to a going injury and Erling Haaland remains out. Manuel Akanji returned off the bench against Everton. Nico O’Reilly should continue after his crucial goal at Goodison.
Ollie Watkins struck against Newcastle on his return to the starting line-up and it would be a surprise to see the striker drop out, but Villa have a huge game on Saturday against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals.