Man City v Aston Villa: Preview and Betting Tips | EPL 2025

Man City face Aston Villa in the English Premier League on Tuesday night. This is a key match in the race for a top-five finish and a place in the Champions League next season. Villa are on a run of 10 wins in their last 11 matches and have won two of their last three clashes with City.

Match: Man City v Aston Villa
When: Tuesday, 22 April 2025, 21:00
Where: Etihad Stadium

Man City Form

Pep Guardiola’s side currently sit fourth in the table as they look to redeem a poor season. Since losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in March, they’re unbeaten in six matches in all competitions. A 2-2 home draw with Brighton saw two leads surrendered before winning 2-1 at Bournemouth in the FA Cup.

A 2-0 home league win over Leicester preceded a toothless 0-0 draw at Old Trafford vs Man Utd. They have since thrashed Crystal Palace 5-2 at home having trailed 2-0, and they won 2-0 at Everton on Saturday. Two goals in the final ten minutes were needed to seal a key victory.

Man City Team News

Five players are set to miss this match. Ederson is set to be absent in goal whilst Nathan Ake and John Stones miss out in defence in defence. Manuel Akanji has returned to boost the back four.

Rodri is still out after his serious knee injury while this match comes too soon for Erling Haaland. Omar Marmoush is set to lead the line. Mateo Kovacic is pushing for a recall after his goal from the bench at Goodison Park.

Man City Motivation

This is a huge match in the battle for a Champions League place. City want to end in the top five and win the FA Cup to somewhat save their season.

A win would send City to third, but a loss would see them drop to sixth. That makes this a ‘must not lose’ fixture and we could see quite a safe approach.

Aston Villa Form

Villa are playing right now with 10 wins in the last 11 matches. The only defeat was the first leg loss away to PSG where they were thoroughly outplayed (outshot 29-7). They went into that first leg on a run of seven straight wins including a 3-0 victory and Brighton and a key 2-1 home success over Nottingham Forest.

Since that first leg defeat to PSG, they’ve won three straight fixtures. A 3-0 victory at Southampton needed three strikes in the final 20 minutes. They beat PSG 3-2 in the second leg as they missed five big chances. On Saturday, they thrashed Newcastle 4-1 and outshot their opponents 23-10 in a fine performance.

Aston Villa Team News

The return of winger Leon Bailey means that Unai Emery has a fully fit squad. Ross Barkley is also back to boost midfield depth.

There are strong options to rotate the XI. Marcus Rashford and Lucas Digne will hope for recalls, whilst Amadou Onana scored against Newcastle and could start this one.

Aston Villa Motivation

Villa are playing with freedom and confidence. They will go to City and try to win the match.

Motivation is high to finish in the top five and Emery can call upon a strong bench to turn the match if trailing in the second half.

Key Stats

Man City have seen Both Teams to Score YES in 7 of their last 8 matches vs Aston Villa

Man City are 6 matches unbeaten in all competitions

City have scored 20 goals in their last 7 home EPL matches

Aston Villa have won 10 of their last 11 matches

Aston Villa have won 2 of their last 3 matches vs Man City

Verdict

This fixture promises to have goals and entertainment. Villa look to be in better form than City and could pull off a huge shock at the Etihad Stadium.

Best Bet: Aston Villa win/draw double chance at 1.93
Value Bet: Aston Villa win at 3.95
Alternate Bet: Over 3.5 goals at 2.25
Anytime Goalscorer Tips: Watkins at 2.50 or Marmoush at 1.90