Maresca confirms Erling Haaland '100% available' for Manchester City's trip to Aston Villa

Erling Haaland is "100% available" for Manchester City's Premier League trip to Aston Villa on Saturday, manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed, clearing the way for the Norwegian striker to return to the side as City look to extend a perfect start to the season.

Haaland was left out of the matchday action entirely in midweek, sitting on the bench as an unused substitute while City brushed aside AEK Athens 5-1 in the Champions League. Phil Foden was the biggest threat in his absence, netting a hat-trick.

His return comes after a fitness scare. Haaland had been a doubt with a foot injury sustained in the 3-2 win over Ipswich Town on 19 October, as reported at the time by BBC Sport and The Guardian, and he was subsequently left out of the starting line-up for the AEK Athens fixture on 21 October. Those concerns are now resolved.

Three still waiting on training

Maresca was far less certain about the rest of his walking wounded. Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly remain injury doubts, with the manager saying their availability would only become clear after training.

"Erling is the only one 100% available. And the other three, we need to wait for [Thursday's] training session," Maresca said.

Perfect record, but room for improvement

City arrive at Villa Park with a maximum 21 points from seven Premier League games, three points clear at the top of the table after a 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town last time out in the league. Despite that flawless return, Maresca insists the project is only just getting started.

"We can attack and defend better," he said. "In the past three games, we had the best defence in the league before our game started, but then we conceded goals. I am always looking for how we can improve.

"Sometimes we forget it has been just three or four months since we started. I was here before, but it is a completely new project. We only started months ago, but that's why I'm sure we can improve."

Haaland back to his best numbers

The striker's value to City this season is stark. In the Premier League, Haaland has scored the most goals of any player (eight), has taken the most shots (27) and the most shots on target (13), and ranks second for big chances (12) and touches in the opposition box (40).

One quirk of the fixture, however, is his recent record against Villa: Haaland scored on his first Premier League appearance against them but has not found the net in any of his last four meetings with the Villans.

With a win, City would become only the eighth side to win each of their first eight games of an English top-flight season, following Everton in 1894-95 (first eight), Sheffield United in 1903-04 (eight), Tottenham in 1960-61 (11), Manchester United in 1985-86 (10), Liverpool in 1990-91 (eight), Chelsea in 2005-06 (nine) and Liverpool in 2019-20 (eight).