Europa League champions Aston Villa travel to a record-breaking Etihad Stadium on Sunday for the final Premier League game of the 2025-26 season.
- The Etihad will host its largest ever football attendance as the North Stand expansion trialled at full capacity
- Pep Guardiola is expected to depart City after Sunday’s fixture, his last game as manager
- Bernardo Silva and John Stones will make their final appearances for the club against Villa
- Both clubs are expected to rotate significantly: Villa four days after winning the Europa League in Istanbul
The occasion. A record Etihad farewell
Sunday’s final Premier League fixture of the season carries an emotional and historical weight that transcends the usual end-of-season finale entirely. Manchester City confirmed this week that the expanded North Stand at the Etihad Stadium has passed all operational checks following a successful test event meaning the ground will host its largest ever football attendance for the visit of newly-crowned Europa League champions Aston Villa.
That record attendance will witness the farewell of one of the most decorated managers in the history of English football. Pep Guardiola, expected to depart the Etihad after Sunday’s fixture despite being under contract until 2027, faces Villa in what will almost certainly be his final game in charge of a club he has transformed beyond recognition across a decade of extraordinary achievement.
Departing City legends Bernardo Silva and John Stones will both start, with the club understood to have put specific plans in place for a fitting send-off for two of Guardiola’s finest signings. Both leave as free agents this summer after contributing to one of the most trophy-laden periods in English football history. City’s Carabao Cup and FA Cup double this season provided some consolation after Arsenal’s Premier League title triumph, but Sunday is about celebration and farewell rather than competitive anxiety.
Villa’s context. Europa League champions arrive
Emery’s side travel to Manchester just four days after lifting the Europa League trophy in Istanbul, one of the most significant achievements in the club’s modern history. The squad will be depleted by injuries (Emiliano Martinez, Boubacar Kamara and Alysson all remain sidelined), while significant rotation is anticipated given the physical and emotional demands of the final week.
Earlier in the season, Villa beat City 1-0 at Villa Park through a Matty Cash volley from a set-piece routine, a result that underlined just how far this club has progressed under Emery. Sunday offers the opportunity to end the most remarkable season in Villa’s modern history with one final performance on the grandest possible domestic stage.
Team XIs
Predicted Manchester City XI: Trafford; Nunes, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Nico González, Bernardo Silva, O’Reilly; Aït-Nouri, Marmoush, Savinho.
Predicted Aston Villa XI: Bizot; Garcia, Mings, Lindelöf, Maatsen; Bogarde, Luiz; Sancho, Barkley, Bailey; Abraham.
ReadAstonVilla Verdict
Champions League confirmed. Europa League won. The season is complete in every meaningful sense. Sunday is a celebration, of a historic season, a record Etihad attendance, and Guardiola’s extraordinary decade. Enjoy it, embrace it, and bring the Europa League trophy to Manchester
