Aston Villa are set to hand a debut to right-back Luke Young, but Carlos Cuellar has a calf problem and will not be fit to play for another week.
Striker John Carew (calf) should be fit to play, but midfielder Steve Sidwell has damaged his calf and is a doubt.
Manchester City will be without Richard Dunne who is suspended after being sent off in the last game of last season.
Benjani Mwaruwari and Darius Vassell are injured and Jo is at the Olympics, so Valeri Bojinov may start up front. <!-- E SF -->
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Aston Villa (from): Friedel, L Young, Laursen, Knight, Davies, Shorey, A Young, Routledge, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Barry, Maloney, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Gardner, Salifou, Osbourne, Delfouneso, Baker, Taylor.
Man City (from): Hart, Corluka, Onuoha, Richards, Ben Haim, Ball, Garrido, Fernandes, Hamann, Ireland, Johnson, Etuhu, Elano, Bianchi, Bojinov, Evans, Sturridge, Castillo, Schmeichel, Caicedo.
Aston Villa start the 98th season of top-flight football in their history against fellow Premier League founder members Manchester City, under new boss Mark Hughes.
Both clubs were involved in Uefa Cup qualifying on Thursday, with mixed fortunes:<!-- S ILIN --> Hafnarfjordur 1-4 Aston Villa
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Man City 0-1 FC Midtjylland
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Villa are vying for a 50th league victory over City, but the Citizens have not lost in five Premier League visits to Villa Park.
City have accumulated more points (40), achieved more wins (11) and scored more goals (34) in Premier League matches against Aston Villa than any other club.
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