Man City vs Aston Villa preview

Team news, key stats and prediction ahead of Man City vs Aston Villa (kick-off 12.30pm) in the Premier League.

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Team news

Manchester City pair Rodri and Oleksandr Zinchenko both face spells on the sidelines in the coming weeks, manager Pep Guardiola has revealed.

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Midfielder Rodri suffered a hamstring injury in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Atalanta and will be out for around a month.

Left-back Zinchenko has undergone minor surgery on a knee problem and could be unavailable for up to six weeks.

The loss of Rodri for a spell that includes City's much-anticipated top-of-the-table Premier League clash with Liverpool on November 10 is a major blow.

The Spaniard had been playing in defence due to injuries to centre-backs and, although John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi are now available again, the news limits Guardiola's options.

Aston Villa are still without Jota as the Spanish forward underwent surgery two weeks ago and has yet to rejoin training.

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But Jonathan Kodjia (fractured cheekbone), James Chester (hamstring) and Kourtney Hause (mumps) are available after playing for the U23s in midweek.

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Opta stats

• Manchester City have won their last nine Premier League home games against Aston Villa by an aggregate score of 30-4. Their last such defeat was in April 2007 (0-2).
• Aston Villa have failed to score in seven of their last nine Premier League meetings with Manchester City (W1 D1 L7), with the two games they have scored in finishing 3-2 (W1 L1).
• Manchester City haven't lost consecutive home league games since February 2016, while Pep Guardiola has never lost back-to-back home games in his entire managerial league career.
• Man City have already failed to win two of their four home games in the Premier League this season (W2 D1 L1) - more than they did in the whole of 2018-19 (W18 D0 L1).
• In his last four Premier League games, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish has been involved in four goals (2 goals, 2 assists) and created 15 chances for his team-mates. In his first five league games this season, he'd been involved in just one goal (1 assist) and created 10 chances.

Charlie's prediction

I like Aston Villa going forward, but there is no doubt in my head that they have issues in the full-back positions.

Dean Smith is attack-minded - they went to Arsenal and should have got something. But he will know the situation ahead of him here, but what does he do?

Raheem Sterling is hot again, Gabriel Jesus is firing and David Silva is back to his best while, Kevin De Bruyne is superb. Pep Guardiola got angry with them at a similar time last season and they kicked on big style. They made a couple of points on Liverpool last week, but people were writing them off a couple of weeks ago. Manchester City will take care of themselves - there are goals in every department. It is a free swing for Villa but one that could land them in some trouble.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: Manchester City 4-1 Aston Villa (12/1 with Sky Bet)

Fantasy Football tip: It may well be time to relinquish Manchester City assets with the amount Pep Guardiola rotates his side, but Kevin de Bruyne is almost a guaranteed starter since he failed to do just that in their defeat at Norwich. He may be the most expensive midfielder in Fantasy Football at £11.2m, but he is the highest scorer in that position with 60 points already. Play here

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