Man City face Villa with Haaland fit, three doubts and an appeal pending

Press conference: Thursday 22 October 2026. Next match: Aston Villa v Manchester City, Saturday 24 October 2026, 12:30 BST, Villa Park.

Manchester City travel to Aston Villa on Saturday as the Premier League's only team with a perfect record, seven wins from seven. Enzo Maresca will have Erling Haaland available, but he has several fitness questions elsewhere in the squad, and the club's legal dispute with the Premier League continues in the background.

Team news: Haaland "100% available"

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Maresca confirmed that Haaland is fit. The striker was an unused substitute in Tuesday's 5-1 Champions League win over AEK Athens, and his early exit from City's previous league game, a 3-2 win over Ipswich Town, had raised questions about his fitness.

"Erling is the only one 100% available," Maresca said. "And the other three we need to wait for today's session." The other three are Nico O'Reilly, Mateo Kovačić and Matheus Nunes, who were all left out of the squad in midweek. Their involvement depends on how they came through Thursday's training session.

Antoine Semenyo remains out with a knee problem. Reports say he is not expected back until around the middle of December.

The Villa test

City have started the league season in exceptional form. Goal reports that they are only the third team in Premier League history to win each of their first seven matches, with 19 goals scored and seven conceded. Their recent wins also include a 3-0 victory at Liverpool and a 5-3 win over Sunderland.

Villa, by contrast, are 12th with eight points, but they arrive in good form: three straight Champions League wins and a 1-0 Premier League victory at Newcastle in their last league outing. They also won the most recent meeting between the clubs, 2-1 at the Etihad in May 2026.

Off the pitch: the appeal

The match comes less than four weeks after the Premier League published the findings of the independent commission that heard its case against City. On Tuesday 29 September 2026 the league confirmed that the commission had found City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against the club.

According to the league, the commission found City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of its financial rules over nine seasons, from 2009-10 to 2017-18, and of most of the charges relating to a failure to cooperate with the league's investigation. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision "details how the club systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade."

City deny wrongdoing. The club said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the verdict and maintains that it is innocent. On Thursday 1 October it lodged an appeal, arguing that the decision "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe."

What has not been decided: no sanction has been imposed. Any penalty will be considered at a separate, confidential hearing, and it is not yet clear whether sanctions can be applied before the appeal is resolved. The appeal hearing is also private. Some media reports have discussed possible punishments, including points deductions, but these are possibilities rather than decisions, and MatchPulse will not speculate on the outcome.

What it means for Saturday

Analysis: On the evidence of the season so far, the legal case has not affected City's results. The more immediate concern for Maresca is squad depth: with Semenyo out and three players doubtful, the late fitness tests could shape his midfield and defence against a Villa side that has beaten City in three of the last five meetings.

Sources

• Manchester City: Maresca says Haaland is 100% available for Villa trip
• Sports Mole: Maresca's injury update before the Villa trip
• Goal: Aston Villa vs Manchester City preview
• NBC News: Man City guilty of almost all of the 115 financial charges
• Sky Sports: Man City lodge appeal against the independent commission's verdict
• CBS Sports: Manchester City confirm appeal