Villa on Saturday gave their hopes of a top-five finish a huge boost with a demolition of positional rivals Newcastle, made the more impressive considering it came days after a gruelling loss to Paris Saint-Germain on aggregate.
City beat Everton at the weekend to record back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since January and they sit fifth, two places but only a point above Villa.
With Newcastle and Nottingham Forest also firmly in the mix, and the relegation battle and title all but settled, the race to qualify for Europe’s top table is the biggest storyline to be decided during the five weeks of the season.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Manchester City vs Aston Villa is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off tonight, Tuesday April 22, 2025.
The match will take place at Etihad Stadium.
Where to watch Man City vs Aston Villa
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on Sky Sports.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app and website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Mateo Kovacic is set to make his 200th Premier League appearance for City
REUTERS
Man City vs Aston Villa team news
Mateo Kovacic came off the bench to seal all three points for Manchester City against Everton, and should start at the Etihad for what would be his 200th Premier League appearance.
Expect more rotation in attack, with Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku pushing for starts after another frustrating showing from Savinho and Bernardo Silva. Further back, Manuel Akanji could be given more minutes after returning against Everton.
Aston Villa will assess Pau Torres ahead of the game, after the defender was left out of the squad to face Newcastle. Otherwise, Unai Emery will be looking at refreshing his squad after a stunning win over Newcastle.
Ollie Watkins will be desperate to keep his place, but Marcus Rashford will have other ideas. Morgan Rogers seemingly never gets dropped, but Marco Asensio could make way as Leon Bailey returns from injury.
Man City vs Aston Villa prediction
Manchester City may not be much like the team of recent seasons past, but are now grinding out results and confidence is growing. Villa made easy work of Newcastle last time out and will be able to make changes, like City, for this game three days later.
However, they have not won a league game at City since 2007. It is a remarkable run of results, even taking into account a sole win in the League Cup across the last 18 years. It is a tough order to end that run this time out, but Villa can take points off any team.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Man City vs Aston Villa match odds
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).