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Attendance: 54,506
Manchester City logo
Premier League | Gameweek 10
Oct 26, 2019 at 12.30pm UK
 
Aston Villa logo

3-0

Sterling (46'), Silva (65'), Gundogan (70')
FT(HT: 0-0)

How Manchester City could line up against Aston Villa

Sports Mole looks at how Manchester City could line up for this weekend's Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Etihad.

Manchester City resume Premier League action on Saturday lunchtime with a game against Aston Villa at the Etihad.

Pep Guardiola's men will be desperate to put right the mistakes they made on their last home domestic outing - a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Citizens, who are currently six points behind leaders Liverpool, will know that any further mistakes at home could prove fatal for their defence of the title.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how City could line up for the meeting with Dean Smith's side.


POSSIBLE MNC XI v AST

Out: Leroy Sane (knee), Aymeric Laporte (knee), Rodri Hernandez (thigh), Oleksandr Zinchenko (knee)
Doubtful: None

> Click here to read City's full list of injuries and suspensions ahead of this fixture.

Guardiola will be glad to see that his injury crisis in defence is slowly abating, with John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi both recovering from knocks to feature from the bench against Atalanta.

However, using both at the same time may be considered too much of a risk, meaning that Stones is likely to partner Fernandinho, whose performances in central defence - not his normal position - have been highly impressive.

It was thought that Joao Cancelo would receive his first start in a City shirt during the week, only for Kyle Walker to recover from a virus to feature instead. The Catalan is likely to give the former Juventus right-back a chance to impress against the newly promoted Midlands side.

On the other side, Benjamin Mendy will have another chance to get some rhythm under his belt given that Zinchenko's injury has exhausted Guardiola of options at left-back.

At the base of midfield is likely to be Ilkay Gundogan, who has featured in all but one Premier League game this term.

The German will be expected to serve as the platform which enables Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, City's glittering engine room, to take control of the game and dominate possession against Villa.

Guardiola often employs a rotational policy with his attacking players, handing starts to Riyad Mahrez and Sergio Aguero for the 5-1 win over Atalanta, which means that the pair are likely to sit out of this upcoming game.

In their place will be Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva, both of whom started in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, along with the ever-present Raheem Sterling.

The latter has been simply irresistible, netting 10 goals in all competitions for City so far this term, and is expected to cause some damage to Villa's right-hand side.

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Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring for Man City on September 28, 2019
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


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