Predicted Starting Line-Up: Manchester City vs Aston Villa (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium on a mammoth night in the chase for UEFA Champions League football for next season.

It was a vital three points on the road for Pep Guardiola and his players last time out as they dismissed of Everton away from home thanks to late goals from Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic, ensuring their position in the Premier League’s top-five for another game-week.

While Manchester City will be delighted with their Champions League hopes remaining firmly in their own hands, their next challenge could see them drop out of the European qualification places entirely should Aston Villa manage victory at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

The injury and fitness situation improved for Guardiola over the course of the weekend as City welcomed back Phil Foden and long-term absentee Manuel Akanji to their matchday squad at Goodison Park, while the increased battle for a place saw Oscar Bobb and Vitor Reis left out.

Remaining on the sidelines are both Nathan Ake and John Stones from the centre of defence, as well as star striker Erling Haaland owing to an ankle injury, while Ederson is not expected to return in time for the visit of Villa due to a reoccurrence of a long-standing groin issue.

Ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League clash against Aston Villa, here is how we predict Pep Guardiola will line-up his side at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night!

Predicted XI

Given the ongoing injury-induced absence to Ederson this week, Pep Guardiola will have no other choice but to start Stefan Ortega Moreno between the sticks for the visit of Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium.

While there remains a chance of rotation at right-back, a hugely promising performance from Matheus Nunes on the road last time out – including a match-winning assist with six minutes of normal time remaining – could hand the Portuguese international another start.

Pep Guardiola has found significant success in a new central defensive partnership of late and having been keen to praise the duo in his most-recent press conference, we believe Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol could start alongside one another again.

And rounding off what we think could be an unchanged back-four for the visit of Aston Villa this week, Nico O’Reilly may start in at the left-back role once again after impressing in his last opportunities for the club.

Having been entrusted to start at the base of midfield in a rare away match last time out, we think it could be back-to-back opportunities for Nico to start under Guardiola this week as he begins what is likely to be another traditional midfield trio.

Ahead of the Spaniard but offering cover in defensive transitions, we believe it could be another start for Mateo Kovacic after his successive goalscoring exploits in Manchester City’s last two games.

Rounding off midfield but also offering firepower in attack and working alongside a fluid front-three, Kevin De Bruyne may start and captain the side once again and for the second time in a matter of days for Manchester City this week.

Opening up what we believe could be an all-out-attack forward line, Savinho could get the nod on the right of a Manchester City trio after a relatively steady outing at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

In the middle of the trio but also offering legs in wider areas and perhaps in attacking midfield, Omar Marmoush is a highly likely starter particularly given the ongoing absence of Erling Haaland from the side.

And finalising our predicted Manchester City starting line-up for the visit of Aston Villa, it may be an opportunity for Jeremy Doku to cause havoc for the visiting defence, after a game-changing outing from the bench against Everton 72 hours ago.

Starting XI: Ortega Moreno; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Nico, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C); Savinho, Marmoush, Doku.

Substitutes: Carson, Lewis, Akanji, Khusanov, Gundogan, Bernardo, McAtee, Foden, Grealish.