Speaking on Khusanov Guardiola revealed “I think he’s close but he’s still not ready from having an injury in a dangerous, dangerous position in his body”, so a return in GW10 is possible for the defender.
22 Oct, 2025
Aston Villa vs Manchester City Predicted Lineups, Odds, Preview & Prediction
Our GW9 Aston Villa vs Manchester City predicted lineups, bettings odds, preview, team overviews, H2H record and predicted score.
- Can Emery and Villa continue to be one of the most in form teams in the league and make it 4 wins on the bounce?
- Will Manchester City show they are serious title contenders by getting a win over a form team in Villa and keep pace with Arsenal?
- Bet Builder suggestion: Manchester City to Win + Both Teams to Score + Erling Haaland to Score: 24/5 – click here to place bet on Betrino!
Find out all of that and much more in our preview of Aston Villa vs Manchester City. We have a match preview, predicted lineups, team and injury news, live odds, our score prediction and more for this GW9 matchup.
Match Details:
Fixture: Aston Villa vs Manchester United
Stadium: Villa Park
Date: Sunday 26th October
Kick-off: 2:00pm BST
Match Betting Odds:
Aston Villa to win: 13/5
Draw: 11/4
Manchester City to win: 87/100 (Great value on Betrino/Betway)
Both Teams to Score Odds:
Yes: 4/6 (Great value on Betrino/Betway)
No: 6/5
Player to Score Odds:
Erling Haaland: 10/11 (Favourite bet on Betrino/Betway)
Ollie Watkins: 15/8
Phil Foden: 9/4
Player to Score or Assist Odds:
Phil Foden: 6/5
Ollie Watkins: 13/10
Jeremy Doku: 6/4
Bet Builder Suggestion:
Premier League Head-to-Head Record:
Aston Villa Manchester City Recent Premier League Results
| 22/04/25 - Manchester City 2-1 Aston Villa |
| 21/12/24 - Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City |
| 03/04/24 - Manchester City 4-1 Aston Villa |
| 06/12/23 - Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City |
| 12/02/23 - Manchester City 3-1 Aston Villa |
Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.
To head back to our main predicted lineups hub, click here.
Aston Villa Predicted Lineup:
Aston Villa Team News:
There were no major Friday updates from Unai Emery around team or injury news.
Clearly Emery thought Watkins was not fit enough or too much of a risk to start last weekend in the win over Tottenham, but he will definitely be fit enough to and will start this Sunday against Manchester City.
Mings suffered an ankle injury that has kept him out of the past 2 games. He could return to training this week but I would expect Torres to continue starting.
According to the Athletic on October 8th, Tielemans is set to miss 4 more weeks out injured.
Malen seems to have finally found his way in to Emery’s preferred starting XI. He started up front in the win over Spurs but he will shift back to RW with Watkins returning to the starting XI this week. Guessand has started from time to time but Malen is ahead in the pecking order currently.
Onana and Kamara should be the double pivot pairing while Tielemans is out. They should start together again.
Aston Villa Players to Watch:
Mings: Could return this weekend but Torres should start.
Torres: Will start in Mings’ place.
Watkins: Should be fit to start this weekend.
Malen: Will move back to RW with Watkins fit to start.
Tielemans: Out 4 more weeks.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup:
Manchester City Team News:
Guardiola speaking in his Friday Press Conference stated “The guys who were not able [to play] in Villarreal are still not ready”. Said ‘guys’ are likely Rodri and Khusanov.
Guardiola also informed the media that “I didn’t see the doctors [about Nico Gonzalez]. We’ll see tomorrow, today and tomorrow how he feels. It was something with his feet”, and given the lack of clarity and it being a foot injury, it is safe to assume Gonzalez misses out this weekend.
Guardiola speaking on Matheus Nunes Friday said “He can be an incredible right-back because he’s a holding midfielder with incredible physicality. He can become one of the best, it’s a question of him now. We talk about it a lot”, so clearly that is how Guardiola views him and he will start at RB against Aston Villa.
Nico Gonzalez came off in the 57th minute of Tuesday’s victory over Villarreal in the Champions League with an apparent foot injury. Guardiola revealed “Nico had a knock on his feet, we will see”. Bernardo Silva started in midfield and scored against Villarreal and will likely be the one to replace Gonzalez in the deepest midfield role although that could also be Kovacic. Kovacic has only just returned, with his first minutes of the season being against Villarreal off the bench so it is less likely he starts.
Marmoush returned after a lengthy absence with a cameo off the bench against Villarreal. He likely needs to be reintegrated slowly after a muscle injury so the bench is the likeliest option for Marmoush this Sunday with a better chance of starting in GW10. Ait-Nouri also returned to the matchday squad for the first time but did not feature at all. He won’t start on Sunday but likely gets minutes off the bench.
Manchester City Players to Watch:
Rodri: Out 2-3 weeks with a hamstring injury.
Gonzalez: Likely to miss out with a foot injury.
Khusanov: Could return to team training next week.
Marmoush: Returned against Villarreal. Likely starts on the bench against Villa.
Ait-Nouri: Unused sub in return vs Villarreal. Likely will make a cameo against Villa as a sub.
Kovacic: Could start in the deepest midfield role.
Savinho: Started last 3 league games.
Stones: Started against Villarreal but likely not given two starts in 4 days.
Aston Villa vs Manchester City Preview & Predicted Score:
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester City
An absolute FPL Fanatic, with a strong background in sports Journalism and statistics, Ahsan is one of the key writers here at ingenuity. Ahsan’s content stretches from How-to guides right up to analytical deep dives on players, making his content appealing for both the serious fantasy player and newbie alike.