Manchester City will be looking to continue their impressive start to the 2022/23 campaign when they travel to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's side, who defeated Steven Gerrard's men on the final day of last season to ensure they retained the Premier League title, will be keen to build on their 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest in midweek. Erling Haaland grabbed his second hat-trick for the club since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, while Julian Alvarez scored a brace.
City have been solid this season and have only dropped two points so far — in the 3-3 draw at Newcastle last month. The reigning champions defeated Crystal Palace prior to the victory over newly-promoted Forest, and have scored 19 goals, while conceding just five.
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Guardiola is not afraid to tinker with his team, and benching Kevin De Bruyne for the win on Wednesday night shows just how strong City's squad is this season. While most sides would keep the same starting line-up after winning 6-0, the City boss will more than likely make a couple of changes. Ederson will surely continue in goal, however, unless anything drastic happens before kick-off, of course.
In front of the Brazilian shot-stopper, City will more than likely stick with the same defence, with the team having kept three clean sheets in the opening five league matches. Defender Manuel Akanji arrived at the Etihad Stadium from Borussia Dortmund on transfer deadline day, but it is unlikely that the Switzerland centre-back will start against Villa. Therefore, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo should all start, especially with Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte both out injured.
However, Guardiola might be tempted to make a change in midfield. With talisman De Bruyne starting on the bench against Forest, the Belgian is expected to return on Saturday. Bernardo Silva played well in midweek, but after starting the last two games, the City boss might chose to give him a rest, and replace him with De Bruyne.
De Bruyne is likely to be joined in the midfield-three by Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan — the latter being impressive against Steve Cooper's side. It remains to be seen which trio Guardiola will go with, but changes can certainly be expected in the middle of the park.
While it would certainly be harsh to drop a player that bagged a brace in the previous match, Riyad Mahrez might start in place of Alvarez against Villa. The Algerian winger came on in the 55th minute in midweek, so will be fresh and raring to go. Although there is a chance that Alvarez does continue in attack, Mahrez will be pushing for a start after starting just two games so far this season.
Should the 31-year-old start in the forward line, he is likely to be joined by Phil Foden, and almost certainly by Erling Haaland. The Norwegian frontman has registered nine goals in five Premier League matches and is in scintillating form.
Predicted line-up vs Aston Villa: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva; Mahrez, Haaland, Foden
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