Man City vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups

Manchester City have won their last 14 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, scoring at least twice in each of the most recent 13. Their last home defeat in this fixture came on 28 April 2007.

City have trailed in just two of those 14 matches, going 1-0 down in May 2010 and 2-0 down in May 2022 before winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

However, Aston Villa won this season’s reverse fixture in December and are looking to complete their first league double over City since 1962-63.

This may not be the final match between these two sides this season, remember.

This weekend, both will travel to the capital to contest their respective FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.

Villa face Crystal Palace on Saturday 26 April, while City take on Nottingham Forest the next day.

Could these two sides be set for a Wembley showpiece in May too then?

Rogers struck for Aston Villa when they beat his former club in December but was never given a first-team appearance by Guardiola as he was loaned out to Lincoln, Bournemouth and Blackpool before being sold to Middlesbrough.

These two sides have met a total of 165 times in the past, with City winning 75, Villa winning 51 and 40 ending as draws.

Earlier this season, Villa ran out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture at Villa Park.

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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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?

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.