Pep Guardiola has provided the latest update on the fitness of his Manchester City squad ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Citizens are in high spirits at present after extending their unbeaten run across all competitions to nine games with a 2-0 Champions League victory over Villarreal on Tuesday.
Nico Gonzalez was handed a start in midfield, but the Spaniard was forced off in the second half at Estadi de la Ceramica after sustaining a “knock to his feet”.
Gonzalez has recently been operating in a deep-lying midfield role in Guardiola’s team in the absence of star lynchpin Rodri, who has missed City’s last two games since tweaking his hamstring in a Premier League victory at Brentford before the international break.
Rodri has spent time in the treatment room along with defender Abdukodir Khusanov, who has missed the last six matches in all tournaments with an unspecified injury.
Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Villa Park, Guardiola has revealed that he expects to face Unai Emery’s side with the same squad that he took to Villarreal earlier this week, meaning both Rodri and Khusanov are not in line for a return.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola pictured on October 18, 2025
Gonzalez a doubt, Rodri, Khusanov will miss Aston Villa trip
“No, still the guys who were not available at Villarreal, they are not ready,” Guardiola told reporters at a press conference on Friday when discussing the fitness of his squad.
On Gonzalez, Guardiola added: “I didn’t see the doctors, and we’ll see tomorrow - today and tomorrow - how does he (Gonzalez) feel. Something with his feet”.
Commenting on Khusanov, the Catalan coach said: “I think he’s close to coming back, but he’s still not ready. He has an injury in a dangerous, dangerous position in his body.”
In the absence of Khusanov, who was deployed as a right-back in recent matches before sustaining his injury, both Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis are expected to battle it out for a start on the right side of Man City’s defence against Villa.
Nunes played a right-back and scored a dramatic 94th-minute winner - his first league goal for Man City - in a 2-1 home victory against Villa in April of last season.
If Gonzalez is not fit to feature in midfield, then Mateo Kovacic could be handed his first start for the Citizens this season since recovering from Achilles surgery in the summer.
Meanwhile, the likes of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki have also recently returned from injury and are in contention to play for Man City this weekend.
ID:584304:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect4589: