Man City predicted XI gallery vs Aston Villa - three changes from Tottenham loss for Pep Guardiola

Here’s how we think Manchester City will line up for Sunday’s game against Aston Villa.

Manchester City will hope for a vastly improved performance on Sunday against Aston Villa compared to last week’s 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Premier League champions lacked rhythm and composure in North London last Sunday and struggled to get Erling Haaland on the ball as they failed to claw back any ground on leaders Arsenal. But the omens are good ahead of this weekend’s clash, with Pep Guardiola yet to lose to Aston Villa or Unai Emery in his career.

The City boss also should have a relatively fresh squad with no matches in seven days since the Spurs defeat, albeit the last week will have been stressful for those at the Etihad. But asked if he spoke to his players about the recent Premier League allegations, Guardiola said he felt no need to.

“The club talked with all of us but I didn’t speak, we trained like normal to try and beat Aston Villa,” he said. Why should they be distracted? I’m confident in my players.

“I’m delighted with the team,” he added. “I know how they train day to day and normally in the previous season in the toughest moments we were there and I have the feeling we will continue to do it.”

Meanwhile, only John Stones is expected to miss out for City, although Guardiola wasn’t asked for a team news update given the focus pre-match was on other topics. Phil Foden is likely to be involved at some stage after he returned from illness and was seen in training this week.

Here’s how we think Guardiola will line up for Sunday’s game...