Bobb back in one of three changes for Aston Villa trip

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Manchester City F.C.

·26. Oktober 2025

Bobb back in one of three changes for Aston Villa trip

Oscar Bobb is set to start his first match for City in three weeks as Pep Guardiola makes three changes for our trip to Aston Villa.

The Norway international last played from the off in our 1-0 win over Brentford on 5 October, turning out for 76 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium.

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And the 22-year-old will operate in midfield during the 14:00 (UK) kick-off with Unai Emery's side at Villa Park.

Joining Bobb in the Blues' XI are Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden who have replaced Nico and Rico Lewis who started our previous outing - a 2-0 Champions League win over Villarreal.

TEAMS

City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Stones, Gvardiol, Reijnders, Bernardo (C), Bobb, Foden, Savinho, Haaland.

Substitutes: Trafford, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Cherki, Doku, Nico, O'Reilly, Lewis.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn (C), Buendia, Rogers, Watkins.

Substitutes: Bizot, Lindelof, Maatsen, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Guessand, Malen, Sancho.

TACTICS

Gianluigi Donnarumma is set to make his eighth appearance for the Blues since his summer arrival from PSG and he’ll be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

At the base of midfield sits Tijjani Reijnders with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden also in the engine room.

Then Erling Haaland will lead the line with Oscar Bobb and Savinho on either flank to provide further pace and skill to our attack.

IN SEARCH

City arrive at Villa Park today looking to extend our unbeaten streak in all competitions to 10 consecutive matches in all competitions.

The fantastic run of games began with a strong 3-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday 14 September before collecting wins over Napoli, Huddersfield, Burnley, Brentford, Everton and Villarreal.

Of our nine matches without loss only two of those are draws which came away at Arsenal and Monaco.

However, the home of the Villans hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for City in recent years with Guardiola’s side winless there in our previous three visits.

Last season we suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat with Phil Foden’s late strike little more than a consolation.

But the boss said in his pre-match press conference that the Blues are a different team from the one who visited Villa Park in December 2024 after 10 months of evolution.

WATCH: Watch: City's last 10 away goals at Aston Villa

GOALS GALORE

Heading into matchweek nine of the 2025/26 Premier League season, City's 17 league goals scored was the highest across the division - with that tally now currently level with Chelsea who lost 2-1 to Sunderland on Saturday.

Across our five top-flight wins so far this term, we’ve scored three or more goals in three of those triumphs in victories over Wolves (4-0), Manchester United (3-0) and Burnley (5-1).

Leading the way in the club’s Premier League goalscoring chart this season is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Erling Haaland who has notched eight in the division so far this season.

The Norway international has scored in each of his last 12 appearances in all competitions and he’s closing in on a century of English top-flight goals with his current total at 96.

STATS

Aston Villa have won their last two home league games against Manchester City, last winning more consecutively between 1960 and 1975 (5).
Man City have won 31 games and scored 101 goals against Aston Villa in the Premier League – only against Newcastle (32 wins, 106 goals) have they done so more.
After a five game winless start in the Premier League this season (D3 L2), Aston Villa have since won each of their last three games. The only team in top-flight history to have a five game winless start then win their next four games are Preston in 1936-37.
Manchester City have won more points in the Premier League than any other side since the start of April (39 – W12 D3 L2). They’ve only conceded the first goal in two games in that time, while they’ve opened the scoring in their last six games, their best run since a run of eight between April and August 2024.
Aston Villa have won their last two Premier League games when they’ve conceded the first goal, beating Fulham 3-1 and Spurs 2-1. Since Unai Emery’s first game with the Villans in November 2022, only Pep Guardiola (14) has more wins after conceding first than Emery (11).
Since their 5-1 defeat at Arsenal in February, Manchester City have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than any other side (12), while only the Gunners can match City for goals conceded per game (both 15 in 22 games, 0.68).
Five of the last seven Premier League goals Aston Villa have conceded have come via set pieces (1x penalty, 1x throw, 3x corners), conceding from a corner in each of their last three games. The last side to concede from a corner in four games in a row were Newcastle in April/May 2024, while Villa last did so in November/December 2010.
No player in the Premier League this season has more goals and assists combined as a substitute than Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendía (2 goals, 1 assist). The Argentinian is looking to score in consecutive Premier League appearances for the very first time.
Erling Haaland has scored in each of his last five away Premier League appearances for Manchester City. The only player to score in more consecutive away games for City is Sergio Agüero between March and August 2017 (7 in a row).
City have scored seven away Premier League goals in 2025-26, with Erling Haaland scoring five of those, netting in all four away games. The only players to score in their team’s first five away matches of a season are Thierry Henry in 2001-02 for Arsenal, Mohamed Salah in 2021-22 for Liverpool and Jarrod Bowen in 2023-24 for West Ham.