Aston Villa vs Man City preview: Haaland fit, Manzambi doubt for Villa

← Back to Match CentreAston Villa v Man City

Aston Villa host Manchester City at Villa Park, Birmingham, in Matchweek 8 of the Premier League on Saturday 24 October 2026. Kick-off is at 12.30pm and the referee is Peter Bankes.

City top the table with 21 points from seven games, having won all seven. Villa are 12th with 8 points from seven (won 2, drawn 2, lost 3), so there are 13 points between the sides before kick-off.

Recent form

Villa have won five and drawn one of their last six matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding 6. Those results include a 6-0 home win over Fenerbahçe, a 1-0 win at Newcastle and a 3-1 home win over Viking on Wednesday 21 October. In the league, they have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 of their last five.

City have won five and lost one of their last six matches, scoring 23 goals and conceding 10. The defeat was 4-2 at home to Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday 14 October, and they have since beaten Ipswich Town 3-2 and AEK Athens 5-1. In the league, they have won all of their last five.

Team	Last six (oldest first)
Aston Villa	WWDWWW WWDWWW
Man City	WWWLWW WWWLWW

Aston Villa: last six results

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
Wed 21 Oct	Home	Viking	3-1	W
Sat 17 Oct	Away	Newcastle	1-0	W
Wed 14 Oct	Home	Fenerbahçe	6-0	W
Sat 10 Oct	Home	Brentford	2-2	D
Sat 19 Sep	Away	Tottenham	3-2	W
Wed 16 Sep	Away	Coventry City	3-1	W

Man City: last six results

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
Tue 20 Oct	Home	AEK Athens	5-1	W
Sat 17 Oct	Home	Ipswich Town	3-2	W
Wed 14 Oct	Home	Paris Saint Germain	2-4	L
Sun 11 Oct	Away	Liverpool	3-0	W
Sun 20 Sep	Home	Sunderland	5-3	W
Thu 17 Sep	Home	Norwich City	5-0	W

What the managers said

Unai Emery (Aston Villa)

Emery was asked about the fitness of Johan Manzambi after the win over Viking and did not have an answer at that point.

“I don’t know now. Tomorrow we will see about our players.”

“In case he can play, fantastic, but if not, then we wait for the next match.”

Enzo Maresca (Man City)

Maresca spoke about Phil Foden, who is in City’s predicted line-up.

“I know Phil from years ago, so I know how good he is”

“For me, I think it’s my duty to help Phil to again be one of the best players in England.”

On the strength of his squad, Maresca said:

“It’s not about one player. They are all special. Rayan is a top player but we have another 20 top players. It’s about finding the right balance of what we want.”

On his own team’s defence, he said:

“We can attack and defend better. In the past three games we had the best defence in the league before our game started, but then we concede goals. I am always looking for how we can improve.”

On Villa and their manager, he said:

“I have huge respect for Unai [Emery]. He has done well at every club he has been to. They are a very good team and you can see clearly what they want; they are very intense off the ball. They are in a good mood at the moment and winning games.”

On injuries in his squad, Maresca said:

“Erling is the only one 100 per cent available”

“They can be all available or not. Yesterday they were all improving, and we’ll see this afternoon.”

“It depends a little bit on the game plan. I think they can play all together, yeah.”

Team news

Villa are without Amadou Onana (cruciate ligament tear), Matteo Ruggeri (hamstring) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (hamstring), and Manzambi’s fitness is uncertain. City are without Antoine Semenyo (knee). Maresca said Haaland is 100% available, while Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly could all be available but there are doubts, with an assessment due after training on Thursday afternoon. The line-ups are predicted: both sides are expected to play 4-2-3-1, with O’Reilly at left-back for City and Nicolas Jackson leading the line for Villa.

Where Aston Villa can hurt Man City

Villa have scored in all six of their last six matches, 18 goals in total, and have scored 11 times in their three home matches in that run (2-2 v Brentford, 6-0 v Fenerbahçe, 3-1 v Viking). They have also won 12, 16 and 14 corners in the home matches against Tottenham’s opponents’ counterparts listed here, Brentford aside: 16 against Fenerbahçe and 14 against Viking, compared with 4 against Brentford.

City have conceded in four of their last six matches, 10 goals in all, including four against Paris Saint Germain, three against Sunderland and two against Ipswich Town. Maresca said himself: “In the past three games we had the best defence in the league before our game started, but then we concede goals.” City have also conceded 7 goals in their seven league games.

Where Man City can hurt Aston Villa

City have scored 19 goals in seven league games and 23 in their last six matches in all competitions, including 3-0 at Liverpool. Haaland is fully available, according to Maresca, and the predicted line-up has him leading the attack.

Villa have conceded in four of their last six matches, including 2-2 against Brentford and 3-2 at Tottenham, and have let in 11 goals in seven league games, having lost three of them. Their predicted back line has no Wan-Bissaka or Ruggeri because of hamstring injuries, and Onana is out with a cruciate ligament tear.

How to watch

Aston Villa vs Man City kicks off at 12.30pm UK time on Saturday 24 October, live on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, TNT Sports Ultimate. Subscribers can stream it on TNT Sports app, discovery+.

AI Tipster value bet

18+ only. Please gamble responsibly: BeGambleAware.org. This tip is generated by our AI Tipster from the stats and the bookmakers’ prices. Odds are correct at the time of publishing and can change. No bet is ever certain.

← Back to Match CentreAston Villa v Man City