Credit: Imago

James Barker

Fri 22 May 2026 7:40, UK

Aston Villa have a miserable record when it comes to playing at the Etihad Stadium ahead of their final day clash with Manchester City.

Fresh off the back of European glory, Aston Villa have one final mission on their hands before they can bathe in the success of 2025-26 this summer.

Looking to wrap up fourth place on Sunday, Unai Emery takes his Villa side to the Etihad Stadium, with the Villans having the honour of being Pep Guardiola’s final Premier League opponents.

Under these circumstances, it’s no doubt going to be an even tougher task than usual for the Villans to get a result, as everyone connected with City will be determined to give Guardiola a fitting send-off.

So, it’s set to be a brilliant occasion when Aston Villa and Man City meet this Sunday, as the Villa Park outfit look to achieve something they’ve not been able to do in 19 years: win a Premier League game at the Etihad.

What is Aston Villa’s Premier League record at the Etihad?

There aren’t many tougher venues in the Premier League to go and win as the travelling team than the Etihad Stadium.

Man City always make their home a fortress from which they build successful campaigns around, and so it’s always a shock when they do get turned over there.

Aston Villa are tasked with being the Guardiola party poopers this weekend, but when turning the pages of the history book detailing these two sides’ Premier League rivalry, it makes for grim Villa reading.

Indeed, the Villans haven’t beaten Man City at the Etihad Stadium in any of their last 15 top-flight visits, but they haven’t just failed to beat them, as they’ve actually lost every single one of those matches.

Eight of them have seen City keep a clean sheet, and only once have they only been limited to scoring one goal in any of those 15 most recent encounters respectively.

To find the last time that Villa turned up at the Etihad and won in the Premier League, you have to go back to April 2007, when goals from John Carew and Shaun Maloney saw Martin O’Neill‘s team win 2-0.

Villa beat Man City 1-0 in their most recent league game back in October 2025, however, so the Villans do at least go into this one with the bragging rights.

What is Man City’s home record like this season?

So, if it wasn’t already obvious how big of a challenge awaits Emery’s men on Sunday, it will be now.

When City are in the mood, which is the vast majority of the time, they are pretty much unstoppable at the Etihad.

That’s proven by their home form this season, with just one defeat on home soil in the league in 2025-26, and that was at the hands of Tottenham all the way back in August last year.

Guardiola’s gang have won 14 and drawn three of their other 17 league matches at the Etihad this term, scoring 44 goals and conceding just 12, with 45 points picked up there as opposed to 33 on their travels.

Can Villa turn up and win? Yes. Will they? Well, all of the aforementioned evidence and their Etihad form suggests that’s going to be a very, very big ask.