Aston Villa vs Man City Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2026-27 English Premier League

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Aston Villa host Premier League leaders Man City at Villa Park on Saturday, with both sides having enjoyed comfortable midweek wins in the UEFA Champions League.

Kick-off date/time: 24 October 2026 at 12:30 pm

How to watch on TV & online: UK – TNT Sports & HBO Max / USA – USA Network, Fubo & Peacock Premium

Aston Villa preview: Perfect in Europe

Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 at Villa Park in the Champions League on Wednesday to make it three wins from three in the league phase, with winger Alysson the standout performer for Unai Emery's men.

The West Midlands side's most recent Premier League outing was a 1-0 victory at Newcastle, but they are still looking for their first league win at home in the 2026-27 campaign.

Man City preview: Foden hot streak

Man City thrashed AEK Athens 5-1 at the Etihad in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Phil Foden scoring a hat-trick alongside goals from Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki.

In-form Foden was also on target in the 3-2 Premier League win over Ipswich last Saturday, which continued their 100% start to the domestic campaign that sees them come into the weekend with a three-point lead over reigning champions Arsenal.

Aston Villa team news: Hopeful on Manzambi

A thigh injury could keep Aaron Wan-Bissaka out for up to a month, so Emery will have to decide whether Ian Maatsen – who returned from injury to make the bench on Wednesday – is ready for a start at left-back.

Further details will appear here following pre-match press conferences…

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen; McGinn, Gomes; Alysson, Buendia, Manzambi; Jackson

Unavailable: Ruggeri (Injured), Wan-Bissaka (Injured), Onana (Injured)

Questionable: Cisse (Fitness), Manzambi (Injured)

Man City team news: Haaland available

Antoine Semenyo is expected to be out until the middle of December with a knee injury sustained against Ipswich, but Erling Haaland is definitely available according to Maresca.

Maresca was uncertain on Matheus Nunes, Nico O'Reilly and Mateo Kovacic but all three could recover in time for Saturday's fixture.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Doku, Cherki, Foden; Haaland

Unavailable: Semenyo (Injured)

Questionable: Nunes (Injured), O'Reilly (Injured), Kovacic (Injured)

Key stats

• City have won seven out of seven, the first time they have done so at the start of a Premier League season. Only Chelsea (2005/06) and Liverpool (2019/20) had previously taken 21 points from their first seven games.
• Villa have won their last three home Premier League games against City (1-0 in December 2023, 2-1 in December 2024, 1-0 in October 2025), keeping clean sheets in two of them.
• Villa also won 2-1 at the Etihad in May 2026, so they have won the last two meetings and four of the last six (L2).
• That is a sharp turnaround: City went 13 Premier League games unbeaten against Villa (W11 D2) between May 2014 and February 2023, and have won 31 of the 52 meetings overall (D10 L11).
• The highest-scoring meeting was City's 6-1 win at Villa Park in January 2020; their 5-0 home win in November 2012 matched that five-goal margin.
• City have scored in 23 consecutive Premier League matches and are unbeaten in 11 away games (W7 D4) since 1 February 2026.
• City have kept three clean sheets this season, but have conceded five goals in their last two home games (5-3 v Sunderland, 3-2 v Ipswich). Coming into Matchweek 8, their matches have averaged 3.71 goals.
• Villa are unbeaten in three (W2 D1). Their 1-0 win at Newcastle was their second clean sheet of the season, after 0-0 at Hull.
• Villa are winless in three home games this season (D1 L2) and have conceded in six consecutive home Premier League matches.
• Since 2019/20, Villa have won 12 of their 18 Premier League games kicking off at 12:30 on a Saturday (D1 L5). Since 2016/17, City have won 30 of 44 in that slot (D6 L8).
• Villa have won only 27.0% of their Premier League games in October (30 of 111), City 55.9% (57 of 102).

Aston Villa vs Man City prediction

Despite all the off-the-field noise surrounding the club, Man City come into this in superb goalscoring form and they are yet to drop any points in the Premier League this season.

However, City have conceded five goals in their last two home Premier League games, against Sunderland and Ipswich, so they are far from watertight. Villa are unbeaten in seven games across all competitions and they look capable of becoming the first team to take points off Maresca's men in the division.

Indeed, Villa did the double over City last season and Emery clearly enjoys the challenge of facing them. With the likes of Foden hitting form and Haaland likely to return to the starting line-up though, you have to think City will find the net.

Either both teams to score or over 2.5 goals looks a decent shout here.

Aston Villa vs Man City tip: Over 2.5 goals