Man City team news ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game at Aston Villa is mixed, according to Enzo Maresca’s press conference. Erling Haaland is the only player the City head coach described as 100 per cent available. Three others, Matheus Nunes, Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic, were improving but are not yet confirmed, as live coverage from the Manchester Evening News reported.
Man City team news: Maresca on the injury list
Maresca said City had a training session on Thursday afternoon. “All of them could be available or not,” he said, adding that they had all been improving the day before. “Erling is the only one 100 per cent available.”
Nunes, O’Reilly and Kovacic each picked up knocks last weekend and were not in the squad for the 5-1 win over AEK Athens, the Manchester Evening News says. This is the head coach’s view of the Man City team news. It is not a confirmed list of absences.
Haaland fit, Semenyo out
The Manchester Evening News reports that Haaland is 100 per cent fit to start against Villa after a knock in the 3-2 win over Ipswich. Antoine Semenyo is out for the next eight weeks with a knee injury picked up in that game, the paper adds.
Man City team news: Foden and the options
Maresca also spoke about having many players to choose from after the AEK win. “Nice to have many players available, a good choice for me. It’s not easy to keep them all happy,” he said, as quoted live by the MEN. “The most important thing is that when we decide to give them minutes, they all have to be ready.”
City’s club website says the game at Villa Park kicks off at 12:30 UK time on Saturday. City have won every Premier League game so far this season, the club says, including 3-2 against Ipswich and 3-0 at Liverpool. Villa have lost three games to date. For more Man City team news, see our AEK Athens report, the Semenyo injury story and our December fixtures guide.
Sources: Manchester Evening News live blog, Manchester City.
