Manchester City v Aston Villa [Premier League]

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Manchester City will stand on the verge of winning a second Barclays Premier League title in three years with victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace on Monday left Brendan Rodgers' men just a single point clear at the top, meaning victory in their game in hand against Villa at Etihad Stadium would give Man City a two-point lead heading into the final weekend of the season.

Avoiding defeat against West Ham United on Sunday would then likely be enough for Manuel Pellegrini's side, with the 2011-12 champions boasting a significantly better goal difference than Liverpool.

City overcame a major hurdle in the run-in by battling to a 3-2 victory at Everton on Saturday, and forthcoming home clashes with Villa and West Ham United will be seen by many of the club's fans as six points well within their side's compass.

However, Villa triumphed over City by the same scoreline when these sides met at Villa Park in September, so this match should not be considered a foregone conclusion, especially with striker Sergio Aguero ruled out with a groin injury.

"Sergio couldn't recover 100 per cent from his groin problem, so he is not in the squad list," said Pellegrini. "He can have some chances [to face West Ham on Sunday]. We will see the way he improves during the week.”

Midfielder Yaya Toure is nonetheless confident mood ahead of the last two fixtures of what has been a fascinating season at the top of the table.

"We definitely expect to win it," he told the club's website. "As a team at the top you always expect to win. We have worked so hard this year and if we don't win, it would be a massive disappointment for us, for the fans and for the club as well.

Toure will be fit for the visit of Paul Lambert's Villa, despite coming off in the 66th minute at Goodison Park at the weekend, and he is raring to go in search of his second Barclays Premier League title with the Citizens.

"I hope we complete the job, but it depends how sharp we are, how we prepare mentally and physically,” he added. “Our target was always to win something, but for us the League Cup is not enough.

"The Premier League was always our target, so now we need to do be at our optimum levels when Aston Villa come to our stadium on Wednesday."

The pressure is off for the visitors after sealing their top-flight survival with a 3-1 victory over Hull City on Saturday, but Lambert will be determined to finish the campaign with a flourish after another season of flirting with relegation.

Gabriel Agbonlahor (knee) is a doubt for Villa after limping off at the weekend and is the latest striker to make his way to the Villa Park treatment room, with forwards Christian Benteke (Achilles) and Libor Kozak (broken leg) already sidelined.

Manchester City (from): Hart, Pantilimon, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Nastasic, Richards, Zabaleta, Garcia, Fernandinho, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Rodwell, Silva, Toure, Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo, Nimely.

Aston Villa (from): Given, Guzan, Steer, Baker, Bennett, Bertrand, Clark, Lowton, Luna, Vlaar, Albrighton, Bacuna, Delph, El Ahmadi, Herd, Johnson, Sylla, Tonev, Westwood, Agbonlahor, Bowery, Helenius, Holt, Weimann.


Match Appointments

Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: D England, S Child. Fourth Official: P Dowd.