Manchester City vs Aston Villa (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City welcome Aston Villa in an emotional final game of the season on Sunday to bid farewell to Bernardo Silva, John Stones and possibly Pep Guardiola.

Tuesday evening’s clash against Bournemouth saw City’s Premier League title hopes finally slip away, with a 1-1 draw leaving Arsenal as champions.

The match at the Vitality Stadium started well for the visitors, a number of chances fell their way as Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly failed to give the Blues a lead. Antoine Semenyo even looked to have found the net against his former club but the offside flag cut celebrations short.

It was the Cherries’ Eli Junior Kroupi that opened the scoring with his curling effort from the edge of the box, giving Gianluigi Donnarumma no chance to keep the score level. From there on in it was an evening of frustration for Pep Guardiola‘s side.

City narrowly escaped further punishment with Bournemouth having several clear cut chances to increase their advantage.

It took until the 94th minute for City to pull themselves back into the game, as Haaland handed the traveling fans a glimmer of hope with a brilliant finish off the post. However, it proved to be too little too late as the final whistle blew just two minutes later sounding the end of City’s title hopes.

Next up though is a clash against Aston Villa with nothing to lose, an opportunity to bid farewell to some departing legends with no pressure.

Aston Villa are now unbeaten in their last four matches, a run that has them sitting fourth in the table. However, with UEFA Champions League football already secured for next season through their UEFA Europa League crown, a top-four finish would merely serve as a bonus.

City are unbeaten in the league since January, but with second place now guaranteed the only focus is to give Guardiola’s final game at City the send-off it deserves.

This match also serves as the curtain for Bernardo Silva and John Stones‘ spells at the club after nine and 10 years respectively. One thing is for certain, emotions will be running high at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the final match of the 2025-26 season.

Match Details

Manchester City vs Aston Villa will take place on Sunday 24 May, with kick-off scheduled for 16:00 UK at the Etihad Stadium.

Match Officials

Rob Jones has been selected to officiate this one. The last time he refereed a Manchester City game was the 2-2 draw with Tottenham in February.

The full list of match officials can be found below!

Team News

Pep Guardiola has a full strength squad to select from for this one, with no injuries or suspensions over recent weeks.

For Aston Villa, Boubacar Kamara has been sidelined with a knee injury since their match against Tottenham back in January. Alysson Edward is also ruled out with a muscle injury he picked up against Chelsea in March.

Pep Guardiola’s Press Conference Quotes

Guardiola will preview what is most certainly his final Premier League game in charge of Manchester City from 12:30 UK onwards.

Refresh for updates.

Head To Head

Since first meeting in 1899, Manchester City and Aston Villa have faced one another on 184 occasions across all competitions. Of those meetings, City have emerged victorious 82 times, while Villa have claimed 60 wins, with a further 42 matches ending level.

Historically, the fixture has often favoured City, particularly in the modern era. Across the last 10 meetings between the two sides, Manchester City have recorded six victories compared to Villa’s three, with one draw played out in that time.

Interestingly, all three of Villa’s recent victories have come within the last three years, highlighting the progress made under Unai Emery and the increasing competitiveness of the fixture in recent seasons. Prior to that resurgence, Villa had not managed to avoid defeat against City since 2015 and had not recorded a victory in the fixture since 2013.

The last meeting was in October 2025, when a lone goal from Matty Cash in the 13th minute was enough to steal all three points from Guardiola’s men.

Statistics

Manchester City have not lost at home to Aston Villa since 2007, making it 15 home wins in a row for the Blues.

If Aston Villa do manage to win on Sunday it would be the first time that they have achieved a league double over Manchester City since the 1962-63 season.

Aston Villa have more final day losses than any other Premier League side with 16. One of those came on the title deciding day against Manchester City in 2022.

Haaland is on course to win his third golden boot in just four seasons, only Mo Salah and Thierry Henry have more (four each).

If they avoid defeat, Manchester City could finish the Premier League season with just one home defeat (0-2 against Tottenham).

Statistically Aston Villa deploy the highest defensive line in the Premier League, catching opponents offside an average of 3.4 times per match.

Where To Watch

For viewers in the UK, the match will be available to stream on Sky Sports action, with radio coverage on BBC Radio Manchester.

For residents of the USA, the match will be available on Peacock.

A full overview of TV listings is available here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!