Man City lineup vs. Aston Villa: Predicted XI for Premier League clash including Haaland decision

Haaland was pictured with a swollen foot after scoring two goals and hobbling off at full time in City's 3-2 home win over Ipswich Town last weekend. The prolific Norwegian was not involved in City's 5-1 Champions League win against AEK Athens on Wednesday, but manager Enzo Maresca has said that his No.

9 is"100% available" to play against Villa. Nico O'Reilly, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes were also absent in midweek after coming off against Ipswich with minor issues, but the Citizens trio are likely to return to the matchday squad, pending a late fitness test.

In the absence ofinjured attacker Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku and Iliman Ndiaye could both start out wide, though the latter faces stiff competition for a place on the right flank from Phil Foden, who netted a superb hat-trick against AEK Athens and also scored against Ipswich. Foden is also an option to start in the number 10 role at the expense of Rayan Cherki - another goalscorer in midweek - but Maresca may instead begin with a three-man midfield of Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi, with the latter earning a recall in place of Cherki.

If fit, Nunes is likely to begin at right-back, but Abdukodir Khusanov is available if needed. Marc Guehi, meanwhile, should return to partner captain Ruben Dias at centre-back, while Gvardiol and O'Reilly battle for the left-back position.