Preview: Manchester City vs. Aston Villa - Team news and prediction

Manchester City sits third in the Premier League with 64 points, while Aston Villa is fourth with 59 points, so there is a lot at stake in tonight's match. City cannot afford to drop points in the title race, while Villa ideally needs points to maintain distance from Tottenham. With a win, Villa could close the gap with Manchester City and aim for third place, so we expect an affair where both teams will go for points.

We believe in an open match with goals at both ends, and Stats24 gives it a 63% chance for both teams to score, with odds of 1.66 at Rhino.

Team news: 
Nathan Ake is expected to join Ederson and Kyle Walker on the injury list after he had to be substituted in the Arsenal match. The schedule is tight for City over the next couple of weeks, so Guardiola is expected to rotate the starting lineup in the upcoming matches and also tonight.

Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, and Matty Cash are definitely out with injuries for Aston Villa, while there is significant doubt surrounding top scorer Ollie Watkins. John McGinn is still out due to suspension, so Villa is missing key players.

Man City expected lineup: 
Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Doku, De Bruyne, Alvarez; Haaland

Villa expected lineup: 
Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Luiz, Tielemans, Rogers; Diaby, Duran. 

Prediction: 
As mentioned, we anticipate a high-scoring game where both teams will chase points and victory. However, Manchester City has more quality and will aim to show their home crowd that they are still favorites in the title race. Therefore, we expect them to clinch the victory. We suggest a Manchester City win + both teams to score, with odds of 2.50 at Bet365.