Villarreal vs Manchester City Preview, prediction, lineups, betting tips & odds | UEFA Champions League 2025-26

The Cityzens dominated the proceedings when these sides last met.

Villarreal are all set to host Manchester City for their Round 3 league phase fixture of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League. This interesting fixture is scheduled to take place at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

The LaLiga side Villarreal are going to be at home and this is going to be a big advantage for them. Despite that, things are not going to be on the easier side for them. The Yellow Submarines were held to a 2-2 draw by Juventus in their previous fixture of the European competition. They lost their opening UCL match of this season to Tottenham.

The Pep Guardiola-led side have come up with some good performances in their last few outings. They secured an easy 2-0 win against Napoli in their first UEFA Champions League fixture of the ongoing season, but were held to a 2-2 draw by AS Monaco in their next one. Even though the upcoming game is going to be an away contest for them, Manchester City will be feeling confident.

Kick-off:

• Location: Villarreal, Spain
• Stadium: Estadio de la Cerámica
• Date: Wednesday, October 22
• Kick-off Time: 12:30 a.m. IST (Tuesday, Oct 21; 07:00 p.m. GMT/ 03:00 p.m. ET/ 12:00 p.m. PT)
• Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük
• VAR: In use

Form:

Villarreal: W-W-D-L-D

Man City: W-W-D-W-W

Players to Watch

Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal)

Tajon Buchanan will be one of the main men in the attacking front for the Yellow Submarines. He is going to lead the attack from the right and will be looking to step up his game so that he can help his side stand a chance against Man City. Buchanan must come up with a top performance here.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland continues his goal-scoring form. The Norwegian striker is coming in after scoring a brace against Everton in the last Premier League contest. He is going to be a menace to the opponent’s defence. In two UEFA Champions League games of the ongoing campaign, he has scored three goals.

Sweeping home our second 🙌 pic.twitter.com/cK4at5UTKK

— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 18, 2025

Match Facts

• Manchester City are on an eight-match unbeaten run.
• Villarreal are yet to secure a win against the Cityzens.
• Man City have three clean sheets to their name in last five matches.

Villarreal vs Man City: Betting Tips and Odds

• Manchester City to win @8/11 Unibet
• Erling Haaland to score @17/5 Unibet
• Goals under 3.5 @8/15 Unibet

Injury and Team News

Villarreal will miss out on the services of Pau Cabanes, Willy Kambwala and Juan Foyth as they are injured.

Rodri, Rayan Ait Nouri and Abdukodir Khusanov might not be in action for Man City due to their fitness issues.

Head-to-Head

Total matches: 2

Villarreal won: 0

Man City won: 2

Draws: 0

Predicted Lineups

Villarreal predicted lineup (4-4-2)

Tenas (GK); Navarro, Marin, Veiga, Pedraza; Buchanan, Parejo, Comesaña, Moleiro; Moreno, Oluwaseyi

Man City predicted lineup (4-1-4-1)

Donnarumma (GK); Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic; Silva, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland

Match Prediction

These clubs are going to face each other after a long time and are likely to come up with an interesting contest. Manchester City are likely to come out on top to secure a win against Villarreal in their upcoming UEFA Champions League clash.

Prediction: Villarreal 1-2 Man City

Telecast Details

India: SonyLIV, Sony Sports Network

UK: TNT Sports, Amazon Prime, BBC

US: Paramount+, TUDN

Nigeria: DAZN

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.