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Aston Villa logo
Premier League | Gameweek 32
Apr 21, 2021 at 8.15pm UK
Villa Park
Manchester City logo

Aston Villa
1 - 2
Man City

McGinn (1')
Cash (54')
Cash (57')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Foden (22'), Rodri (40')
Gundogan (44')
Stones (44')

How Manchester City could line up against Aston Villa

How Manchester City could line up against Aston Villa
© Reuters
Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Manchester City could line up for Wednesday's Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

Manchester City have been rocked by the news that Kevin De Bruyne will miss Wednesday's trip to Aston Villa after the midfielder sustained a foot and ankle injury in Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

The Belgium midfielder limped off to be replaced by Phil Foden after only 48 minutes, with Hakim Ziyech scoring the decisive goal of the game only seven minutes later, as City's dreams of winning a historic quadruple this season came to a crashing end.

City have definitively ruled De Bruyne out of featuring against Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday, but the club have remained tight-lipped regarding any timeframe on his expected return date to first-team action.

With an EFL Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur and a Champions League semi-final first leg away to Paris Saint-Germain both forthcoming in the next week, though, the Citizens look set to be deprived of their best player for some incredibly important matches.

However, few squads in Europe can compare with the strength in depth which Pep Guardiola has at his disposal, with the 50-year-old expected to make eight changes to his first XI from the one which was deservedly beaten by Chelsea at the weekend.

Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ilkay Gundogan, Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva were all named among the substitutes at Wembley and are expected to come back into the side against Villa.

Indeed, having named a weakened side in the home defeat to Leeds United last time out in the Premier League, Guardiola is unlikely to take any more risks in that regard, especially with rivals Manchester United having closed the gap at the top of the table to eight points after dispatching Burnley 3-1 on Sunday.

Sergio Aguero may miss out again having been left out of the last two matchday squads due to what Guardiola described as a "number of niggles," so Gabriel Jesus is likely to lead the line once again as a more orthodox striker, with Foden and Mahrez preferred on the flanks to an out-of-sorts Raheem Sterling.

Man City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko; Silva, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Foden

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

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How you voted: Aston Villa vs Man City

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Draw
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Manchester City
69.6%
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Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne pictured in action against Chelsea in the FA Cup on April 17, 2021
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


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