Aston Villa vs Man City preview: Maresca's 7-0 start meets Villa Park

Manchester City take a perfect Premier League record to Villa Park on Saturday 24 October. Aston Villa come into the game on a winning run in Europe that their league position doesn't show. Odds, line-ups and live stats are on the Aston Villa vs Manchester City match page.

Form: one perfect start, one split personality

Manchester City have won all seven league games this season: 21 points, 19 goals scored, 7 conceded. They lead the Premier League by three points from Arsenal. Enzo Maresca is the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a club.

The last of those seven was the tightest. City beat Ipswich 3-2 at the Etihad. Phil Foden opened the scoring, Erling Haaland scored twice, and Ipswich pulled one back with a late penalty. Haaland also had a third goal ruled out by VAR. In the Champions League on Tuesday, City beat AEK Athens 5-1 without Haaland, and Foden scored a hat-trick.

Aston Villa are 12th, with 8 points from seven games and a goal difference of -4. In Europe they look like a different side. On Wednesday they beat Viking 3-1 at Villa Park. Ross Barkley headed the opener, Emiliano Buendía scored a penalty and Viking's Henrik Heggheim scored an own goal. That makes three wins from three in the Champions League. It was also Villa's 12th straight win in a major European home game.

Team news

• Erling Haaland (City): Haaland took a knock to the foot late in the Ipswich game and limped off at full-time. Maresca played it down at the time, and Haaland then sat out the AEK game. Whether he starts on Saturday is the main question for City.
• Antoine Semenyo (City): Semenyo injured his knee against Ipswich, and Maresca has confirmed he faces up to eight weeks out. The scan was better than the club first feared, but he will miss this game and plenty more before December.
• Villa: Unai Emery had not given a full injury update when this was written. Villa played on Wednesday, a day after City, so they have one day less to recover.

What's at stake

A City win would make it eight straight league wins and keep pressure on Arsenal, who host Everton later on Saturday. For Villa, a result here would lift them towards the top half after a slow start in the league. It would also show that their European form can carry over to the Premier League.

The numbers lean towards City: they have a better attack, a 13-point lead over Villa and a full extra day of rest. But Villa Park has been a hard place for visitors in Europe this autumn. Our prediction and the best prices are on the match page and the predictions page. 18+, bet responsibly.

Sources

• Sky Sports — Man City 3-2 Ipswich match report
• Irish Examiner — Man City boss Enzo Maresca hopes Erling Haaland's injury is 'nothing serious'
• Sky Sports — Man City 5-1 AEK Athens: Phil Foden bags hat-trick
• ESPN — Man City 5-1 AEK Athens: as it happened
• Irish News — Antoine Semenyo could miss eight weeks of Manchester City action through injury
• Oman Observer — City's Semenyo out for up to eight weeks, Haaland may be fit to face AEK
• ESPN — 'Delighted' Aston Villa relishing UCL challenge after 3rd straight win
• Goal — Unai Emery maintains perfect Champions League start as Aston Villa sweep aside Viking 3-1
• ESPN — Premier League table