Southampton welcome Manchester City on Saturday evening as the Citizens seek to remain in touch with Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Manchester City have picked up 10 points from their last four top-flight away games, while the saints have accumulated the same number of points across their 14 home matches this season.
Match preview
Man City managed to secure a point in a 3-3 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton lost 1-0 against relegation rivals West Ham United.
Ruben Selles after taking over at Soton, has only won one of his six top-flight matches in charge of Southampton which is a 1-0 win against Leicester City in March.
Southampton have however failed to score in three of their last four games under the new coach and are set for the Manchester City test.
The Saints have struggled so far to pose as a threat especially in the final third and are presently the joint-lowest scorers in the Premier League this season.
The last time Southampton and Manchester City met, the managed to score 2 goals with Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo both on target in a 2-0 EFL Cup quarter-final victory at St Mary’s in January.
The Saints have just won one of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Man City, but Selles is hoping his boys can still replicate their feat against CIty in the EFL Cup.
Mo Salah scored first to give Liverpool the lead before Julian Alvarez equalized, then, De Bruyne, IIkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish scored to bring home the win.
The win was Guardiola’s 100th Premier League home win to move them 5 points closer to the league leaders Arsenal.
The last time city beat the Saints was at home in October 2022 and they could repeat same with their current form and the EPL title at stake.
Manchester City cannot afford to take Southampton lightly, though, having failed to win two of their last three visits to St Mary’s including a 1-1 draw in the Premier League last season.
Guardiola and his boys will seek to get maximum points in Saturday’s encounter so they can focus on their match up with Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week.
Southampton vs. Manchester City Team News
Ruben Selles confirmed that Che Adams and Mohamed Salisu will not feature in the City match alongside Valentino Livramento and Juan Larios, the latter of whom is ruled out for the rest of the season.
Armel Bella-Kotchap might not also feature for The Saints as he picked up a shoulder injury in their last match against West Ham – which they lost.
There won’t be changes in heir defense line that consist of Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Duje Caleta-Car and Romain Perraud while Romeo Lavia and Carlos Alvarez will battle to start in centre-midfield alongside captain and top scorer James Ward-Prowse.
Theo Walcott who has been fighting for his position with the likes of Kamaldeen Sulemana or Paul Onuachu, might get his third start in the attack.
While the visitors’ squad have had a squad boost as Erling Haaland returned from injury earlier this week after missing the Liverpool match last weekend.
Haaland may likely not play full-time as Guardiola might want to rest him to get the best out of him against Bayern Munich next week.
Probable LineUp
Southampton probable starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Caleta-Car, Perraud; S. Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Elyounoussi; Walcott, Sulemana.
Manchester City probable starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Bernardo, Alvarez, Grealish.
Southampton vs. Manchester City Prediction
Manchester City is definitely everyone’s favorite to win this encounter, however, given the intensity of the Premier League – anything could happen.
At Futballnews today, we are looking at Manchester City Beating Southampton 3-0.
