Manchester City will clash heads with Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Mancunian outfit were left frustrated in midweek when they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola will probably stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation and might make a few changes to his first-team for this important league clash at the south coast of England. The likes of Ferran Torres and Kyle Walker could be named in the starting XI in place of Raheem Sterling and Joao Cancelo respectively.
4-2-3-1 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Ederson will lineup in goal for the reigning EFL Cup champions after he shipped in a goal versus the Baggies in midweek. Ruben Dias would resume his defensive partnership with John Stones at the heart of the Man City backline as they try to keep Southampton’s Danny Ings quiet throughout the 90 minutes.
Kyle Walker was rested on Tuesday night, so he will be fresh to start at right-back while Benjamin Mendy continues to feature on the other side as the left-back. Guardiola will demand both his full-backs to keep a good shape at the back and orchestrate a few clear-cut chances for their teammates up top.
Midfield
Ilkay Gundogan will anchor the midfield along with Rodri once again as they look to dominate the battle at the centre of the park. The midfield pair have struck up a solid partnership in recent weeks and will be eager to put on a good show when they lace up to face the Saints this weekend.
The gifted trio of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Ferran Torres will look to interchange possession amongst each other in the opposition half and create plenty of problems for the Southampton defenders on Saturday.
Attack
Gabriel Jesus will spearhead Guardiola’s attack up top. The goals have dried up for the Brazil international, so he will be hungry to find the back of the net and gain some confidence ahead of the busy period after Christmas in Premier League football.
Sergio Aguero will have to be content with a place on the bench but is expected to come on to make an impact in the second 45 minutes if required.
