Villa Park Tests Manchester City's Perfect Start, With Villa Unbeaten in Seven
City arrive with seven league wins from seven; Villa, 12th, are chasing a first home league win and a third straight over City.
Manchester City's flawless start to the Premier League season meets one of the fixtures that has troubled them most when they visit Aston Villa on Saturday (12:30 p.m. UK, 11:30 UTC).
What is at stake
City lead the table with 21 points, three clear of champions Arsenal, after winning all seven of their league games. Only Chelsea in 2005-06 and Liverpool in 2019-20 have matched a seven-win start in the Premier League, according to Sports Mole. Their latest league result was a 3-2 home win over Ipswich Town.
Villa are 12th, two points behind the top six, and have not yet won a home league game this season (one draw, two defeats). A result against the leaders would change the tone of their campaign.
Form on both sides
Unai Emery's side are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions since a 2-1 home loss to Nottingham Forest on September 12, per Sports Mole. They won 1-0 at Newcastle and beat Viking FK 3-1 in the Champions League in midweek.
City are managed this season by Enzo Maresca. Their only defeat in 11 matches across competitions was a 4-2 home loss to PSG in the Champions League, and they followed it with a 5-1 win over AEK Athens. Phil Foden has four goals in his last two appearances, including a Champions League hat-trick, and Erling Haaland has 12 goals in 10 appearances this season.
The history
This fixture has not gone City's way lately. Villa won 2-1 at the Etihad on the final day of last season, Pep Guardiola's last match as City manager, and did the league double over City last season. Over the last ten meetings on record, the home side has four wins, the away side five and one has been drawn. City have lost four of their last six Premier League meetings with Villa, and Villa are chasing three straight league wins over City for the first time in the Premier League era.
Team news
For Villa, Amadou Onana, Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are out, according to Emery. Johan Manzambi missed the Viking game with what Emery called "not a big injury" and remains a doubt. Emery said some players "have some pain" and that he would decide after Friday's training.
For City, Antoine Semenyo is out for around eight weeks with a knee injury. Maresca said Haaland is "100% available." Sports Mole's press-conference report lists Nico O'Reilly, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes as doubts to be settled after training, while its match preview says the trio should be available after being rested midweek. The two reports differ, so final line-ups will settle it.
Looking ahead
Villa have an EFL Cup trip to Bournemouth on October 28, followed by Fulham in the league and visits to Barcelona and Manchester United within five days, Sports Mole notes, so Emery may rotate heavily after Saturday.