Pep Guardiola makes five changes to the City starting XI for the visit of Southampton this afternoon.

Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne are all recalled, while Rodrigo has recovered from, a minor knock.

Line-ups

City:

Ederson, Cancelo, Ake, Akanji, Dias, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (c), Bernardo, Foden, Haaland, Mahrez

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Gundogan, Laporte, Grealish, Alvarez, Gomez, Palmer, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand

Southampton:

Formation: 4-3-3

Ahead of Ederson will be Joao Cancelo at right-back and Nathan Ake looks likely to take on left-back duties.

That would mean Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in central defence with Rodrigo as the midfield anchor.

Bernardo will partner Kevin De Bruyne as a two-prong attacking central pairing, with Riyad Mahrez on the right flank, Phil Foden on the left wing and Erling Haaland at centre forward.

Saints Alive

Southampton managed to stop City twice last season in the Premier League, drawing 0-0 at the Etihad and 1-1 at St Mary’s.

Both games were frustrating for the Blues, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s game plan effectively delivered by his players.

Whatever those tactics were, he is sure to try them again this afternoon – Guardiola will have studied those games and have his own ideas on how to ensure his team break down the Southampton lines in order to collect three points and keep the pressure on leaders Arsenal who take on Liverpool tomorrow afternoon.

Stats and facts

  • Both league meetings last season ended in a draw, while City won 4-1 at Southampton in an FA Cup quarter-final.
  • Saints are winless in 13 competitive visits to Etihad Stadium since a 3-1 Premier League triumph in their first match at the ground in April 2004 (D2, L11).
  • Their solitary victory in 14 league and cup games against City was by 1-0 in the Premier League in July 2020 (D3, L10).

Manchester City

  • City are the first club to score at least three goals in eight successive top-flight home matches since Spurs in 1965. The most recent team to do this in nine consecutive games was Wolves in 1959 (W7, D2).
  • City’s tally of 29 goals is the joint-most after eight Premier League games, level with their own record from 2017-18. The most after nine fixtures is 33 by City in 2011-12
  • It’s one defeat in 36 league matches for City, a 3-2 home loss against Spurs in February.
  • Erling Haaland has scored 14 times in eight Premier League appearances, including a hat-trick in each of City’s last three home games in the division.
  • Kevin De Bruyne has provided eight league assists this season, equalling his tally from 2021-22. Southampton are the opponents he has been directly involved in the most Premier League goals against, with four goals and eight assists.

Southampton

  • Saints have lost 14 of their past 20 top-flight matches, winning just three times.
  • They are enduring a club record run of 18 Premier League away games without a clean sheet.
  • All seven of their points this season were won from a losing position. Saints lost both league fixtures in which they took the lead.
  • Southampton have dropped 92 points from winning positions under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, 20 more than any other side since his first game in charge.
  • They have used four players in the Premier League signed from Manchester City over the summer: Gavin Bazunu, Juan Larios, Romeo Lavia, and Samuel Edozie.