**Manchester City travel to the Midlands this weekend as they desperately hope to bring an end to their concerning form across competitions.**
Win. That is the simple and clear message from manager Pep Guardiola ahead of the weekend’s meeting at Villa Park, and by whatever means necessary regardless of the quality of performance at this stage.
Manchester City find themselves in fifth position in the league table and could fall even further behind their UEFA Champions League place competitors should they succumb to yet another disappointing defeat against Unai Emery’s side.
Last time out was the ultimate culmination of disappointment as Manchester United claimed all three points from the Etihad Stadium via two late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo, overturning Josko Gvardiol’s first-half goal.
Aston Villa have endured their own period of patchy form lately, with successive wins over Brentford, Southampton, and RB Leipzig in the Champions League followed by a 2-1 away defeat to Nottingham Forest in their last match.
City’s injury situation has hardly improve of late either, with Manuel Akanji and John Stones’ return to training followed up by Ruben Dias being ruled out for up to a month with a muscular injury, whilst Ederson is suffering from some niggles in his leg.
Ahead of the confirmed team news from Villa Park on Saturday morning, some initial information has began to filter throughout social media from journalists and sources regarding Manchester City’s starting line-up.
According to the [information of the Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski](https://x.com/spbajko/status/1870425511027208622), Ederson is absent from the travelling squad at Aston Villa on Saturday after Pep Guardiola revealed the goalkeeper was struggling from “niggles” in his leg.
Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola are expected to confirmed their respective Aston Villa and Manchester City starting line-ups around 11:15 (UK) on Saturday morning.
**Now confirmed.**