Manchester City will take on Southampton as they travel to the St.Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday night for the EFL Cup fixture. The Sky Blues come into the match on the back of an emphatic 4-0 victory over the Blues in the third round of the FA Cup, so they will be looking to produce a similar result going ahead into this fixture.
Pep Guardiola could make use of the 4-3-3 formation allowing Julian Alvarez to continue in the final third while Erling Haaland returns to the starting XI to lead the charge down the middle.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted XI Vs Southampton
Defence
Ederson Moraes will continue to operate in between the sticks looking to secure his third consecutive clean sheet. Manuel Akanji will continue to form the customary centre-half partnership with Aymeric Laporte at the heart of City’s backline.
Sergio Gomez would keep his place as the left-back, whereas Joao Cancelo will play from the start on the other flank as the right-back. The full-backs will be expected to stretch the opposition and keep their shape defensively.
John Stones and Kyle Walker would have to provide cover from the bench as they wait for an opportunity to feature in the latter half of the game.
Midfield
Rodri remains a guaranteed starter in the holding midfield position; he’ll be tasked with shielding the backline and distributing possession to his teammates proficiently.
Kevin De Bruyne will return to feature in the central midfield position along with Phil Foden. The duo would be determined to set up some clear-cut goal-scoring chances in the attacking third while making forward runs into the opposition’s backline.
Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips will take a spot on the bench as they wait for an opportunity to impress in the second half if Guardiola decides to call upon their services.
Attack
Julain Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez will take up the wide positions, playing on the left and right wing respectively, trying to cut inside and create chances in front of the goal.
As mentioned earlier, Erling Haaland will lead the charge for the Etihad club in this weekend’s encounter. The Norwegian international will pick up on his excellent run of form trying to find the back of the net and getting his name on the scoresheet.
Cole Palmer and Jack Grealish will take a spot on the bench as they wait for an opportunity to impress in the latter half.
