Man City vs Aston Villa LIVE commentary: Race for Champions League heating up as Emery’s men visit Etihad

Manchester City and Aston Villa continue their pursuit to reach the Champions League tonight, live on talkSPORT.

The Citizens are currently sat in fifth after a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Everton at the weekend.

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Pep Guardiola‘s side are doing enough to win games without being outstanding, while their opponents are starting to hit their stride.

Villa demolished in-form Newcastle on Saturday 4-1 at Villa Park to put themselves right in contention to return to UEFA‘s elite competition.

Unai Emery‘s men made it to the quarter-finals this season, and produced an excellent display in the second-leg to beat Paris Saint-Germain on the night but crashed out on aggregate.

And after getting a taste, they want it again.

Man City vs Aston Villa: Incredibly tight

The Premier League title race has turned into a damp squid, with Liverpool set to wrap it up before May, while two teams have already being relegated.

But the race to finish in the top five is brilliant.

From third to seventh, there are just three points separating the teams, with two sides set to miss out on UEFA’s premier competition.

As it stands, any of Man City, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest could make it.

Given it’s so close, it is almost certain to go down to the last day of the season.

These two are right in the race, so all eyes will be on the Etihad to see who drops points.

• Manchester City have won their last 14 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, scoring at least twice in each of the last 13. Their last defeat was in April 2007 under Stuart Pearce.
• Aston Villa have won two of their last three league games against Man City, as many as in their previous 23. They’re looking to complete their first league double over the Citizens since 1962-63.
• Across their 14 consecutive home Premier League wins against Aston Villa, Man City have trailed in just two games, going 1-0 down in May 2010 and 2-0 down in May 2022 before winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively. In Premier League history, only City themselves against Newcastle United (an ongoing run of 16) have won more consecutive home games against an opponent.

Man City vs Aston Villa: Team news

The hosts remain without their two most important players.

Rodri and Erling Haaland face a race against time to even be involved in the Club World Cup, never mind the rest of the Premier League campaign.

Ederson missed out on Saturday and is likely to be absent once more, so Stefan Ortega will deputise.

Nathan Ake and John Stones are struggling as well, but Manuel Akanji is fit.

Meanwhile, Villa have a full squad to choose from, so expect to see some rotation.

Marcus Rashford, Jacob Ramsey, Amadou Onana, Leon Bailey, Donyell Malen, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne are all in contention to come into the team.

This shows how strong their squad is.

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• Manchester City have conceded 21 home Premier League goals this season, their most in a season since the 2015-16 campaign (also 21). They last conceded more at home in a season back in 2003-04 (24).
• Aston Villa have won their last three away Premier League matches, keeping a clean sheet in each. Their last longer away winning run was between November and February in 2008-09 (7), while they’ve never won four in a row without conceding in the top-flight.
• Manchester City have won each of their last nine home Premier League matches in April by an aggregate score of 35-8. The last side to beat City at the Etihad in this month was Leeds United in a 2-1 win in 2021.

Man City vs Aston Villa: What has been said?

This game is that important, that Guardiola has compared it to a final.

He said: “They are a contender to qualify for the Champions League.

“You see the game they played against my friend Luis Enrique [PSG boss] – wow, I was really, really impressed.

“They can play low block and play away, but when they decide to go, with the weapons they have, the speed they have, the set-pieces, they are incredibly well organised.

“It is a final, and we need our people because I think our people want the Champions League next season again, and hopefully, they can help us from the first minute.

“Sometimes, we are sloppy, sometimes, we are not playing good, now we need them desperately to support us, to make noise and be there all the time because it’s absolutely a final for us.”

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• Aston Villa have won each of their last two away Premier League games 3-0, beating Brighton and Southampton. That’s as many three-goal away wins as they’d had in their previous 84 away games combined. They’ve never achieved this in three away top-flight games in a row.
• Manchester City have scored 36 goals in 11 home games in all competitions in 2025, scoring two or more goals in 10 out of 11 games. Their goals per game average of 3.27 is their fourth best in a calendar year, behind 1898 (3.31, 53 in 16), 1895 (3.29, 46 in 14) and 2019 (3.29, 92 in 28).
• Omar Marmoush has scored six goals in his six home Premier League appearances for Manchester City so far, scoring every 81 minutes, while across his last 17 home league appearances, including his time with Eintracht Frankfurt, he has 14 goals and six assists.
• Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has had a hand in 48 away Premier League goals in 88 appearances (34 goals, 14 assists), including five in his last seven (4 goals, 1 assist). Only Gabriel Agbonlahor has reached 50+ goals and assists away from home for Villa (40 goals, 19 assists).

Man City vs Aston Villa: Date and how to follow

This Premier League game is set to take place on Tuesday, April 22.

The match at the Etihad is due to kick-off at 8pm.

talkSPORT will have live and exclusive coverage, with Adrian Durham serving as your host.

Commentary will then come from Sam Matterface and former Leeds Women’s striker Lucy Ward.

talkSPORT.com will also have regular updates on our dedicated blog.

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

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