Aston Villa v Manchester City Pre-Match News

Manchester City’s busy December month begins on Wednesday 1^st away at Villa Park against Aston Villa with kick-off being at 20:15 GMT.

As for team news, Aymeric Laporte is suspended for the fixture and therefore it is likely the back two pairing will be Ruben Dias and John Stones. Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden were all absent from the matchday squad against West Ham United at the weekend.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

De Bruyne tested positive for COVID-19, but has completed his isolation and tested negative. Foden picked up an injury against Everton just over a week ago, but it is not thought to be anything of great concern. It seems unlikely he will start however he could make an appearance on the bench. As for Grealish, he suffered a knock whilst on international duty and is yet to feature since.

Manager Pep Guardiola has since confirmed in his press conference that both Grealish and Foden returned to training yesterday. They will almost definitely not start, with Pep stating they can play some minutes. However, since the return of a negative test for De Bruyne, he has not been in training.

Aston Villa recently sacked Dean Smith and since Steven Gerrard has taken over, he has won both fixtures in charge, beating Brighton 2-0 and Crystal Palace 2-1.

Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images

If you want to watch the match the coverage will be shown on Amazon Prime in the UK, or you can listen on BBC Radio 5 Live.