Ilkay Gündogan believes there are "no limits" for Raheem Sterling and has hailed his Manchester City team-mate as one of the best five attackers in world football. Sterling opened the scoring 20 seconds after half-time in City's 3-0 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, having been the only home player to impress Pep Guardiola in the first period as the Premier League champions struggled. The forward's latest goal was his seventh of the season in England's top flight and followed a midweek Champions League hat-trick against Atalanta.

Sterling "among the world five best forwards"

"I think he made a big step forward," Gündogan, the scorer of City's third, said of his in-form team-mate. "The way he is now on matchdays, with his mentality, with his aggressivity, with and without the ball, it is crucial for us. We need these kind of players, game-changing players. At the moment, he is probably the one player that can change everything for us and we want to help him keep going like that, scoring and scoring. I feel at the moment, there are no limits for him. It's [on] us to help him to achieve all his targets and try to get out the best possible Raheem Sterling in the next few months. I think he is among the best five forwards in the world right now. It's all about consistency - he has shown in the last year and a half that he is able to be that consistent. If he continues like that, he can be on the top."

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Fernandinho sent off

Gündogan became the latest City midfielder to fill in at the heart of defence, albeit briefly, after Fernandinho picked up a second yellow card with three minutes of normal time remaining. The Germany international added: "I got a little feeling in the last few minutes of the game [playing as a centre-back]. I think I did well, but obviously it's a position that I don't really feel very comfortable with. But if it's necessary, if I'm needed in that position, I will play it. I don't mind. I want to help the team wherever I can, so if the manager decides to put me there one day, I will give my best and I will try to help the team as much as possible."