Manchester City vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction
Follow all the action from Etihad Stadium
Follow live coverage as Manchester City face Aston Villa in the Premier League today.
Manchester City are reigning champions after beating Liverpool to the finish line in a neck-and-neck 2021/22 title race where a comeback win on the final day of the season against Aston Villa secured a fourth title in five years for Pep Guardiola's side.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds were on course for a quadruple last season but were forced to settle for just an FA Cup and Carabao Cup win and will return trying to win the title again just as they did in 2020.
It was a dramatic season for Chelsea a year ago with Roman Abramovich now replaced by Todd Boehly as owner in west London. He will want an instant return on his hefty investment at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham, back in the Champions League, will want to kick on once more too.
It's not all about the action at the top though with Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest promoted to the top tier for 2021/22 and hoping to hold their own against the best English football has to offer and avoid the drop.
We will bring you all the action and updates from today's game in the live blog below:
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
That's all from Manchester today, so thank you for joining us and goodbye!
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
While Guardiola must now prepare his men for a crucial contest in the capital, where the league leaders await them, 11th-placed Villa's next fixture is also against Arsenal - in their case, six days from now.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
Having done all the hard work before the break, Manchester City see out the second half to claim maximum points and move closer to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. An improved display relative to recent showings saw the hosts go three goals up by half-time, but after making several changes in personnel, Aston Villa crept back into the game a little, scoring a consolation goal and rattling the crossbar. Nonetheless, City are within three points of the leaders before the top two clash on Wednesday.
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
FULL-TIME: MANCHESTER CITY 3-1 ASTON VILLA
Manchester City vs Aston Villa
OFF THE BAR! A long punt up from the back by Martinez is flicked on by Watkins to Duran, who takes the ball into his stride on the left side of the box, before swivelling and striking a thunderous shot against the crossbar! The goal-frame continues to reverberate as the ball flies away to safety!
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