Uani Emery's side will host Manchester City at Villa Park on Sunday, with the hosts currently three points adrifts of the top four
Pep Guardiola will be without one of his key midfielders when Man City visit Aston Villa in the Premier League
Pep Guardiola will be without one of his key midfielders when Man City visit Aston Villa in the Premier League
View Image
Manchester City will be without one of their most important players when Pep Guardiola's side visit Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. The Spanish tactician has confirmed that midfielder Rodri will not be fit to face the Villans.
The 29-year-old has not played for City since October 5, when he was forced off in the first half against Brentford with a hamstring problem. The Spanish international had hoped to be involved in his side's home victory against Everton last Saturday, but Guardiola has now confirmed that his key midfielder will miss the Champions League trip to Villarreal on Tuesday and beyond.
As per the club's official website, when asked if Rodri could play in his homeland this week, the City boss said: "I don’t think so. Aston Villa I don’t think so either. It’s not long but it’s muscular.
“We have to be careful. We tried many times to prevent another injury but we have not been able to do that so we will see.”
Villa will head into the match in fine form, having won their three previous Premier League encounters, extending their unbeaten run to five matches. Unai Emery's side overturned a 1-0 deficit against Spurs last time out to prevail 2-1 victors thanks to brilliant goals from Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia.
After a false start to the season, the run has moved Villa up to 11th in the Premier League table and a victory against City on Sunday would put the hosts just a point behind their second-placed opponents.
Before then, however, Villa will turn their attention to the Europa League with a trip to the Netherlands to face Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday evening (5:45pm KO). The Premier League club heads into the match joint-top (third on goal difference) in the Europa League table having taken maximum points from their first two European fixtures.
Go Ahead Eagles are on three points, after wining one and losing the other of their opening matches.
Villa have already tasted victory on Dutch soil as recently as this month, beating Feyenoord 2-0 in Rotterdam on October 2. Travelling supporters will be expecting another positive result on Thursday, but they may find high-flying City a tougher nut to crack, even without Rodri in the side.
Guardiola's team have won four of their last five Premier League matches, and are unbeaten over the same period. They also boast the league's current top scorer in Erling Haaland, with the Norwegian plundering 11 goals in just eight appearances already.
Content Image
Content Image