How Manchester City could line up in Premier League clash vs Aston Villa (4-1-4-1) | OneFootball

Looking to make it four wins in a row across all competitions, Manchester City travel to Birmingham to take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.

City are brimming with confidence after making light work of Villarreal in the Champions League last Wednesday, with first-half goals from Erling Braut Haaland and Bernardo Silva getting the job done.

The routine 2-0 win was their first Champions League away victory in over a year, and Pep Guardiola will hope his side can carry that momentum into this weekend’s tricky contest at Villa Park.

Villa Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for City in recent years. The Cityzens are looking to snap a three-game winless streak at Villa’s fortress, having lost back-to-back Premier League visits.

However, City will be keen to buck the trend this weekend, especially with their nine-game unbeaten streak in all competitions on the line.

How City could line up

Guardiola is expected to make three changes from the side that got the win against Villarreal, although the backline should remain untouched after keeping a clean sheet.

That will see Gianluigi Donnarumma retain his place between the sticks with Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of the Italian shot-stopper.

Midfield could be an area of huge concern for Guardiola.

Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez is in a race against time to be fit for the trip to Villa Park after limping off the pitch early in the second half of Tuesday’s win against Villarreal.

Guardiola did his best to allay fears of a serious issue, playing down Gonzalez’s foot injury as a minor setback, but his availability is still touch-and-go.

With Rodri out of the loop, losing Gonzalez could hurt City’s chances against Villa.

In the attacking third, Guardiola could ring the changes, with Rayan Cherki poised to make his first start in two months after recovering from a thigh injury.

He’ll likely be joined by Jeremy Doku, Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden, with the latter duo stepping in for Rico Lewis and Savinho.

Up front, Haaland will be determined to score in a 10th game running, as well as becoming just the second City player to score in six consecutive Premier League away matches after Sergio Aguero in 2017.