Aston Villa vs Manchester City Prediction 26.10.2025 | Premier League

Not only was the chance to build confidence ahead of a daunting weekend of league action missed, but the Villans’ five-game winning streak also came to an end after a surprising 2-1 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles in Matchday Three of the UEFA Europa League.

They may have worried their adoring fans with the way they opened the EPL season—no wins in the first five rounds (D3 L2)—but the Birmingham outfit have finally woken up and found their rhythm, stringing together wins over Fulham, Burnley, and Tottenham last weekend.

A brilliant run of form has lifted Aston Villa to 11th place in the table, just two points shy of the European spots, and they will confidently envision further progress, drawing energy and motivation from having defeated Man City at Villa Park in their last two meetings.

Left-back Lucas Digne missed the European clash in the Netherlands due to injury and remains a doubt here, while Youri Tielemans will be sidelined a little longer with a calf problem.

Determined to reclaim the throne of English football after a below-par domestic campaign last season, Manchester City have made the early-season impression of champions, currently sitting in second place, three points behind league leaders Arsenal.

It feels as if the defeats to Spurs and Brighton in matchdays two and three of the Premier League are now a distant memory, as the Citizens have been in excellent form since, going unbeaten in their next nine consecutive matches across all competitions and winning seven of them.

Otherwise, Pep Guardiola’s troops confirmed their excellent form on Tuesday night, as first-half goals from Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva secured a routine 2-0 win over Villarreal, bringing them to seven points from three UCL league phase matches (W2 D1).

Abdukodir Khusanov and Rodri are confirmed absent for Manchester City’s weekend trip, while Nico Gonzalez is a major doubt and will need assessments after being taken off in the second half of Wednesday’s UCL match due to a knock on his foot.