Manchester City visits Villa Park seeking eighth straight win with perfect record

Manchester City travel to Aston Villa on 24 October 2026 with an unbeaten Premier League record of seven wins from seven, sitting three points clear at the top of the table. Manager Enzo Maresca has made four changes to the starting XI following the midweek 5-1 Champions League victory over AEK Athens: Erling Haaland, Marc Guéhi, Jérémy Doku, and Iliman Ndiaye return, while Phil Foden and Rico Lewis drop to the bench. Allan and Floyd Samba are omitted from the matchday squad, and Antoine Semenyo remains unavailable due to injury. A victory would give City their longest winning run at the start of a top-flight season, surpassing the seven consecutive wins achieved in 1897-98.

Aston Villa, currently 12th in the league, face their own selection challenges. Johan Manzambi's availability is a fitness concern, while key defenders Amadou Onana and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are absent. Manager Unai Emery has rotated his squad, with Matty Cash, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara, and Manzambi returning in place of Tyrone Mings, Ibrahim Mbaye, Ross Barkley, and Emi Buendía. The Midlands club has shown recent form, winning two of their last three league games after a difficult start, though they remain winless in all three home Premier League matches so far this season.

Historically, the fixture offers Villa encouragement. They have won four of their last six Premier League meetings with City—as many wins as in their previous 35 encounters—and remain unbeaten in their last three home games against sides starting the day top of the table, including victories over Arsenal (1-0 in December 2023 and 2-1 in December 2025) and a 2-2 draw with Liverpool (February 2025). City, however, have lost their last two league matches to Villa and would need to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the fixture to prevent their longest losing run against them since 1962-66.

Haaland has been central to City's start, registering 12 goals across all competitions and eight in the Premier League, alongside 27 total shots and 13 shots on target—both league-leading figures. His return to the XI follows what appeared to be a serious injury last week but proved minor. Pundit Alan Shearer has predicted a City victory despite acknowledging Villa's recent momentum and their manager Unai Emery's proven tactical acumen. Should City prevail, they would become only the eighth side in English top-flight history to win their first eight games of a season, a feat last achieved by Liverpool in 2019-20.