Guardiola can end six month wait in Man City defence vs Aston Villa

For the umpteenth game in a row, Pep Guardiola will be unable to call on the same Manchester City defence for successive games.

Such continuity was vital to their charge to the title in the run-in last season but it simply hasn't been possible this season ever since Aymeric Laporte suffered that serious injury against Brighton in August. Nine games have followed and not once has the manager not made at least once change between games - some through choice, plenty through injury.

Rodri's hamstring problem makes another guaranteed against Aston Villa while Aleks Zinchenko's absence further limits options but there is a silver lining for Guardiola. For the first Premier League game since the win at Crystal Palace more than six months ago on April 14, he could line up with a left-back, two centre-backs and a right-back. There's Benjamin Mendy or Angelino, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi (plus two youngsters) and Kyle Walker or Joao Cancelo, all fit enough to start.

Guardiola may, of course, choose not to do that; Fernandinho, for instance, is being treated as a central defender for the season after the club failed to sign one in the summer window. But in a week where it has felt like more injuries have hit the Blues, a reminder that it is not all bad news.