Man City v AEK Athens preview: kick-off time, team news and form

Manchester City host AEK Athens in the Champions League league phase on Tuesday 20th October, with kick-off at 8.00pm at the Etihad Stadium.

Both sides go into the game level on three points in the competition, with City coming off a loss to Paris Saint-Germain in their last European outing and AEK Athens having lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in their most recent league phase fixture. AEK currently sit 20th in the standings on goal difference, while City will be looking to build on their domestic form, which has them top of the Premier League.

In recent form, City arrive on the back of a strong run domestically, including wins over Sunderland, Liverpool and Ipswich Town, though they were beaten by PSG in their last Champions League match. AEK Athens come into the fixture having won three of their last five across competitions, including Greek Super League victories over Volos and OFI Crete, despite their defeat to Shakhtar.

City have not met AEK Athens recently in the data available, so there is little recent head-to-head history to draw on ahead of this clash, though former players have spoken about links between the two clubs, with Manchester Evening News recalling one ex-City man's time in Greece (Manchester Evening News).

Team news is dominated by injury concerns. The Guardian reports that Antoine Semenyo has been ruled out for roughly eight weeks with a knee injury sustained against Ipswich, leaving Enzo Maresca short of options to support Erling Haaland in attack (The Guardian). Sports Mole also confirmed the scale of the Semenyo blow, with Maresca giving details on how long the forward will be out (Sports Mole). Haaland himself is a doubt for the visit of AEK, with the BBC reporting Maresca discussing "different players we are going to try" as he weighs up his options up front (BBC Sport), while Manchester Evening News added that the Norwegian did not train in the build-up, with several other players also missing sessions (Manchester Evening News).

With City's attacking options stretched, Manchester Evening News reports Maresca is expected to ring the changes, and a predicted line-up suggests Rayan Cherki could start as the head coach makes a decision on Haaland's involvement (Manchester Evening News). Marc Guehi, meanwhile, has described the AEK Athens clash as another chance to learn and develop for the squad, as quoted by ManCity.com (ManCity.com).

Kick-off at the Etihad Stadium is 8.00pm UK time on Tuesday 20th October.

Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.