Foden and Fernandinho are among five changes for City

by

City will make five changes from the side that started against United on Sunday for the clash this afternoon with Southampton.

Men’s crew

City v Southampton: FREE digital matchday program

Phil Foden, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho, Kyle Walker and Bernardo will all return, with Joao Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gabriel Jesus, John Stones and Raheem Sterling making way.

Teams

City: Ederson, Walker, Zinchenko, Laporte, Dias, Fernandinho (c), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Foden, Bernardo, Mahrez

Subs: Steffen, Clachan, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero, Rodrigo, Torres, Mendy, Cancelo

Southampton: McCarthy, Stephens, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Salisu, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo, Redmond, Adams.

Subs: Forster, Walker-Peters, Minamino, Tella, Diallo, Ramsay, N’Lundulu, Ferry, Watts.

Formation: 4-3-3

Central defenders Ruben Dias and Laporte will be flanked by Oleks Zinchenko and Walker.

Skipper Fernandinho is getting his usual job at anchor, with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne likely to join him in midfield.

NOT REALLY HERE – LIVE NOW!

But, without a known striker, don’t rule out De Bruyne or Gundogan who could be taking the ‘fake 9’ role.

That said, neither Foden nor Bernardo could play in that position if needed, while Riyad Mahrez plays on the right.

But it’s impossible to estimate Pep’s plan so we may have to wait until it starts to figure out the true form.

Zip and energy

City were not at the top gold level against United.

While it wasn’t a bad show with any part of the imagination, it seemed a bit jaded about some of the play, with an unusual number of wrong passes.

The introduction of five new faces will certainly help, with the ingenuity and energy of Bernardo and Foden infectious.

Plus it gives the hard-working quintet a bit of rest to the bench.

Look at the city to get back on track

Football can be a weird game but City know that a win against Southampton today is crucial.

Losing to United hurt the players, the boss and the fans, but three points against the Saints will go a long way to dispel that disappointment.

The added addition of moving 14 points is clear again and being one win closer to the title and with United and Leicester not in action before our next game against Fulham on Saturday, dh. six points in the next two games could stretch that to 17 points.

Pep and his players won’t think about those lines yet because both games against teams are good with plenty to play – but it’s possible, nonetheless.

Stats and facts

  • City have won seven of their eight most recent Premier League meetings.
  • Southampton have only taken a point from nine league games away from City since winning their first goal at the Etihad Stadium in April 2004. Sunday’s loss to Manchester United ended City’s run of 28 unbeaten games and 21 wins. after all competition.
  • It was also the first time we had fallen behind or conceded more than once in a league game since a 2-0 loss at Spurs in November.
  • City did not lose home league games after February 2016 under Manuel Pellegrini.
  • Pep Guardiola has never lost home league games back in his managerial role.
  • City have played 13 games after the Premier League on Wednesday, the longest run of its kind on that day in the history of the tournament.
  • Raheem Sterling has scored 11 goals in 16 Premier League goals against Southampton, scoring seven and establishing four.
  • Despite winning the first league in 10 games at Sheffield United on Saturday, Southampton’s high points in 2021 of seven points, eight goals on the score and 25 conceding the worst are the worst. in the department.
  • Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have beaten Everton and Liverpool at the top of the table this season. Southampton were the last team to beat three different league leaders in a high-flying campaign, in 1981-82.
  • Saints have dropped 18 points at high league level from winning positions, one more than Brighton.
  • They have gone 22 games away from the Premier League without a win on Wednesday since beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in April 1995.
  • James Ward-Prowse has scored seven goals in all competitions this season, the best return for Southampton. Five of those goals came from direct free kicks.

CITYZENS: SCORE PREDICTOR – Score Predictor_City vs Southampton PL 20/21

.Source