Haaland 100% fit for Aston Villa clash after midweek rest

Erling Haaland has been declared "100% fit" ahead of Manchester City's crucial Premier League trip to Aston Villa.

Haaland was rested and did not feature in midweek as City beat AEK Athens 5-1, with Phil Foden stepping up to lead the attack in his absence by scoring a hat-trick.

The Norway star will return to the line-up against Aston Villa for a Manchester City side who kept their perfect run going with a 3-2 win over Ipswich Town last time out in the league, making it 7 wins from 7.

Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly remain doubts, and City's coaching staff were cautious about whether the trio will be involved on Saturday: "Erling is the only one who is 100% fit. We need to wait for the final training sessions to see how the other three are."

Despite sitting top of the table on 21 points, the coaching staff insisted there is still room for improvement: "We can attack better and defend better. Before the last few games we had the best defensive record in the league, but since then we have been conceding goals. We are always looking at how we can get better. We have only been together for a few months, this is a completely new project and I am sure we can improve."

Hosts Aston Villa, meanwhile, maintained their unbeaten run in Europe by beating Viking 3-1 in the Champions League. After failing to win any of their first 4 Premier League games (1 draw, 3 defeats), Villa have won 2 of their last 3 league matches.

However, Unai Emery's side are still waiting for their first home league win of the season, having failed to win any of their 3 league games at Villa Park (1 draw, 2 defeats). Emery, pleased with his team's display against Viking, said: "We see every match as an opportunity to be more consistent, both in Europe and in the league. We have to be strong and confident to show the best of ourselves. We still have a lot of work to do."

Players to watch

Aston Villa – Johan Manzambi

Manzambi has contributed to a goal in all 3 of his Premier League starts (2 goals, 2 assists) and has the chance to become the first player in Villa's history to register a goal involvement in each of his first 4 league appearances, although the youngster's fitness will only become clear closer to kick-off.

Manchester City – Erling Haaland

The Norway striker found the net in his first Premier League meeting with Villa, but has drawn a blank in his last 4 matches against them. Even so, he leads the league this season for goals (8), shots (27) and shots on target (13).