Manchester City face Aston Villa test as injuries and financial case overshadow perfect start

Manchester City take the Premier League’s only 100% record to Aston Villa on Saturday, with their seven-match winning run under pressure from a growing injury list and the fallout from a guilty verdict on 114 financial-rule charges.

Enzo Maresca’s side are three points clear of champions Arsenal at the top of the table. City deny any wrongdoing and have appealed against an independent commission’s findings, with sanctions yet to be determined.

Their immediate focus is Villa Park, where forward Antoine Semenyo is expected to miss an extended period with a knee injury. Wing-back Nico O’Reilly and midfielders Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes are also doubts.

Erling Haaland, the league’s leading scorer, was left out of Tuesday’s 5-1 Champions League win over AEK Athens because of a knock. However, he is expected to be fit to face Aston Villa.

Arsenal, who have 18 points, host Everton on Saturday. Their preparations have been affected by an injury to Bukayo Saka, who went off after 10 minutes of Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich with a quadriceps problem.

“He doesn’t look good at all, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.

Fourth-placed Chelsea welcome London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge after successive league wins over Bournemouth and Everton. Tottenham finally recorded their first league victory of the campaign on Monday, beating Coventry City 3-1 at home, but remain 16th with six points from seven games. Chelsea have 13 points.

Liverpool face Brighton challenge

Liverpool host Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on Sunday in one of the weekend’s most difficult fixtures.

Brighton are third after collecting five wins and a draw from their opening seven matches. They are two places and four points above Liverpool, while their plus-18 goal difference is the best in the division.

Liverpool will hope 18-year-old Rio Ngumoha can build on an impressive Champions League display. He created two goals in Tuesday’s 4-3 comeback victory over Villarreal and became the youngest Liverpool player to provide an assist in the competition, prompting a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd.

“That’s the good thing with Rio; he is still 18, he is not the full package, he can add things fortunately for us. Hopefully he can continue in the same way. But I’m happy because attitude-wise I think he’s in a great place,” Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said.

Liverpool’s task is made harder by injuries to several players, including Dominik Szoboszlai, Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike.

Manchester United seek response

Manchester United need a win against Bournemouth at Old Trafford after a difficult start to the season. Michael Carrick’s team are 13th with one victory and seven points from seven matches, and suffered a 4-1 Champions League defeat by Como on Wednesday.

“I have to apologise to the supporters,” Carrick said after the loss in Italy.

“I care about this football club as much as anyone, if not more. For us to play in that way, it’s not acceptable. That bit of intensity, that aggression, that real willingness to give everything tonight was totally the opposite of the performance. It was tough to watch.”

Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Benjamin Sesko, Patrick Dorgu and Lisandro Martinez are among those facing injury or fitness concerns. Midfielder Manuel Ugarte is out with a long-term knee injury.