Man City vs Aston Villa team news: Lineups named for Premier League six-pointer

Pep Guardiola and Unai Emery have named their starting lineups and substitutes for this evening’s pivotal Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Aston Villa, seventh in the standings and just three points behind third-placed Nottingham Forest after five league wins in a row, will be eager to carry on their momentum against one of their direct rivals for Champions League qualification.

The weekend’s 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle United will have really maintained the confidence within the squad as Emery’s men ran riot in the second half, making the usually outstanding Magpies look ordinary. The aim will be the same again tonight but it of course won’t be easy against the champions.

City, on the back of three wins and two draws in their last five, know a defeat tonight could really hurt their chances of a top-five finish. Guardiola admitted early in the season that they were out of the fight for first due to Liverpool’s dominance, but finishing outside the Champions League spots would be a huge step back after four titles in a row.

Emery has gone with a strong team tonight despite the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace being just four days away. The Spaniard has made five changes from the win over Newcastle, with Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford coming in for Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, John McGinn, Marco Asensio and Ollie Watkins.

Man City vs Aston Villa lineups

Without further ado, here’s how both teams shape up in full.

Man City XI: Ortega (GK); Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne; McAtee, Bernardo, Marmoush.

Man City subs: Carson (GK), Grealish, Doku, Nico, Akanji, Savinho, Khusanov, Foden, Lewis.

Villa XI: Martinez (GK); Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Kamara, Tielemans, Ramsey; Rogers, Rashford.

Villa subs: Olsen (GK), Maatsen, Garcia, Disasi, McGinn, Barkley, Malen, Asensio, Watkins.