How Manchester City could line up against Aston Villa

Manchester City will be gunning for a third successive EFL Cup crown when they take on underdogs Aston Villa in Sunday's final at Wembley.

Pep Guardiola's side have dominated domestic cup competitions in recent years, particularly the League Cup which they could win for a fifth time in seven seasons.

Fresh from a famous 2-1 comeback win away to Real Madrid on Wednesday night, City will be favourites to add another piece of silverware to their growing cabinet having hammered the same opposition 6-1 less than two months ago.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Guardiola could line his side up for the contest.

Out: Aymeric Laporte (hamstring), Leroy Sane (knee) Doubtful: None

> Click here for Man City's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Perhaps the only negative to come from the midweek win at the Bernabeu was an injury suffered by Aymeric Laporte, who is now set for up to a month on the sidelines.

As was the case in Madrid, Fernandinho is expected to replace the Frenchman alongside Nicolas Otamendi at the heart of the defence, and Guardiola is also likely to recall a number of familiar faces who were surprisingly left out in the Spanish capital.

Raheem Sterling and David Silva are among those who will be pushing for a return to the starting XI, while all-time record goalscorer Sergio Aguero could lead the line instead of Gabriel Jesus.

The Argentine has a formidable record against Villa, scoring five goals in the last three meetings including a hat-trick when the two sides last met in January.

Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva may be left to do battle over the final spot in the front three, with Kevin De Bruyne a shoo-in in midfield and Rodri also likely to feature as the anchor once again.

Joao Cancelo may be given the nod instead of Kyle Walker given the latter's midweek exploits, while cup goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is expected to come in for Ederson.

> Click here to see how Aston Villa could line up for this contest