Man City vs Aston Villa LIVE: Citizens play first game since being hit with Premier League expulsion threat but could close gap to Arsenal with crucial win in title race

Manchester City are set to play their first game since being charged by the Premier League for breaching financial rules this weekend. 

Pep Guardiola’s side will try and avoid distraction from events off the pitch as they welcome Unai Emery’s Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium.

The Citizens were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham last time out as they missed the opportunity to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal in the title race. 

But now they have been gifted another chance after the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw with Brentford.

And with their future in the Premier League as a whole being thrown into doubt, they will desperate to generate some positivity with the results on the pitch. 

However, Villa will be out to create something positive for themselves and bounce back after losing 4-2 to Leicester last weekend. 

Man City vs Aston Villa: How to watch 

This Premier League clash will take place on Sunday, February 12. 

Kick-off at the Etihad Stadium is scheduled for 4:30pm. 

The game will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. 

talkSPORT will also be providing updates of all the action. 

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

u can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Man City vs Aston Villa: Teams 

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Rodri, Laporte, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish.

Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Ake, Alvarez, Gomez, Akanji, Foden, Palmer, Lewis.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Young, Konsa, Chambers, Digne, Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey, Watkins, Buendia, Bailey.

Subs: Sinisalo, Zych, Cash, McGinn, Moreno, Coutinho, Dendoncker, Swinkels.

Man City vs Aston Villa: What has been said?  

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan reacted to the news of Man City’s charges earlier this week. 

Jordan told talkSPORT: “One must remember these are charges and they have to be answered by Manchester City.

“Pep started sowing the seeds, as they obviously knew this was coming, by suggesting there were X amount of clubs in the Premier League that wanted Man City banned.

“When we heard Pep saying that last week we were wondering ‘why were you bringing this up’, now this is the reason why.

“Man City have these allegations and charges to answer. I didn’t think the Premier League would have the balls to do this and having the balls to make it stick is another matter.

“I have always maintained they have significant questions to answer and this idea that people are xenophobic or have an issue because the ownership model is not one people like because of its ethnicity or persuasion is nonsense.

“It’s about the idea that there is an element of financial doping. By that I mean they have been using businesses they own to artificially inflate sponsorship deals that have given them an opportunity to fall within that confines of Financial Fair Play.

“There are a lot of allegations here.”

Man City vs Aston Villa: Match facts  

• Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins is looking to score in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time. He last scored in three straight league appearances in August 2018 with Brentford in the Championship.
• As well as being the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 25 goals, Erling Haaland’s strikes have earned Man City a league-high 18 points. However, last time out against Tottenham, the Norwegian failed to register a single shot or touch in the opposition penalty area in 90 minutes.
• Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has never beaten Man City’s Pep Guardiola in 12 previous meetings in all competitions, drawing four and losing eight. His first ever Premier League game in charge came against Guardiola’s City, and a 2-0 defeat with Arsenal at the Emirates in August 2018.
• This will be Man City boss Pep Guardiola’s 250th Premier League game as manager. He’s the 29th manager to reach this milestone in the competition, while only five managers have more wins than the Spaniard (183). Indeed, Guardiola has the highest win rate of any permanent manager in Premier League history (73.5%).
• Aston Villa have scored at least once in their eight Premier League games under Unai Emery, with their 14 goals scored in these matches as many as they’d netted in their previous 15 combined. The Villans last had a longer scoring streak in the top-flight between March and May 2010 (10 games).
• Aston Villa have won all three of their Premier League away games under Unai Emery, with John Gregory the only manager in Villa’s league history to win his first four on the road (first 5 between March-May 1998). Villa last won four consecutive top-flight away games between November 2008 and February 2009 (7).
• Manchester City have lost four Premier League games this season, already more than they did in the whole of 2021-22 (3). They lost 1-0 at Tottenham last time out, but haven’t lost consecutive league games since December 2018.
• Aston Villa have won just one of their last 29 away league games against reigning top-flight champions (D6 L22), beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in December 2009 under Martin O’Neill. They’ve lost their last eight such games by an aggregate score of 26-6.
• Following their 1-1 draw at Villa Park in September, Aston Villa are looking to avoid defeat in both Premier League meetings with Man City in a season for the first time since 2000-01, when they drew 2-2 at home and won 3-1 at Maine Road.
• Manchester City have won their last 12 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and secure the Premier League title on the final day last season.