(Football news) Manchester City are set to take on Chelsea at a top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad Stadium with the reigning champions currently 10 points clear and a win against the Blues will all but eliminate Thomas Tuchel’s side from the Premier League title race. The COVID-19 outbreak at Man City has meant that seven first team players as well as Pep Guardiola were isolated against Swindon and it remains to be seen how many will be available for this fixture.

Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko are expected to be sidelined due to COVID-19 while Riyad Mahrez is unavailable for selection due to his participation at the African Cup of Nations. John Stones has a chance of returning to the squad after removing from a knock while Aymeric Laporte is also expected to return. Chelsea have no new injury concerns but Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Edouard Mendy (AFCON) remain unavailable while Andreas Christensen has tested positive for COVID-19.

N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva returned to the bench against Tottenham after recovering from COVID-19 and could be in the starting XI at the Etihad Stadium while Malang Sarr is expected to retain his left sided role and Kai Havertz could be favoured over Timo Werner. Despite City’s problems, the hosts are expected to seal the win from this fixture and extend their lead on top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United will travel to Villa Park to face Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa yet again after a 1-0 win over the side last Monday in the FA Cup. Villa have shown some serious ambition in the January transfer window, having signed Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne and will look to finish in the top-half of the Premier League table by the end of the season. The Lions have already defeated Manchester United 1-0 in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in September but have failed to defeat the Red Devils at Villa Park since August 1995. 

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Ralf Rangnick will hope to get on a winning run starting with three points at Villa Park as the club are currently seventh in the league, six points behind West Ham who are fourth but with two games in hand. They have a busy run of fixtures coming up against Villa, Brentford and West Ham and Rangnick will want maximum points from all the fixtures. Aston Villa will be without Leon Bailey, Marvelous Nakamba and John McGinn for this fixture while Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet will miss out due to their involvement in the AFCON. Coutinho could make his debut which means Danny Ings may be dropped while Morgan Samson could feature in midfield alongside Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey.

For Manchester United, Ronaldo is back in the squad after a hip complaint while Jadon Sancho, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire and Phil Jones are also in contention. Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay are suspended while Eric Bailly is unavailable due to his participation at the AFCON while Paul Pogba is injured. Matic is expected to replace McTominay while Cavani could replace out-of-form Rashford. Donny Van De Beek is expected to be on the bench despite his impressive cameo last Monday.

Liverpool will desperately be hoping for three points against Brentford considering their title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea will have faced each other on Saturday. The Reds had endured a disappointing 3-3 result earlier this season at the Brentford Community Stadium but will need to capitalize on this opportunity to keep their title hopes alive. Jurgen Klopp will be without Salah, Mane and Keita due to their involvement at the AFCON while Nat Philips, Thiago Alcantara, Harvey Elliot and Divock Origi are unavailable for selection. 

James Milner could be replaced by Curtis Jones or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain while Trent Alexander-Arnold could be replaced by Neco Williams at right back with the 23 year old pushed further ahead. As for Brentford, Frank Onyeka is on AFCON duty while Sergi Canos is suffering from a hamstring problem. Josh Dasilva, David Raya, Charlie Goode and Mathias Jorgensen are also unavailable for selection while Rico Henry and Yoane Wissa could start.