Manchester City will look to carry on their 18-game win-streak when they take on Southampton at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow evening.
Pep Guardiola’s men come into the game off the back of a hard-fought 2-1 victory away to Huddersfield Town on Sunday, after being 1-0 down at half-time. Raheem Sterling scored yet another crucial winning goal to consolidate City’s eight-point gap over Manchester United.
Opponents Southampton have been less than impressive so far this season, despite cruising to a 4-1 victory at home to Everton on Sunday. Mauricio Pellegrino has had a difficult start to life in the Premier League, but will be hoping for a repeat of their recent performance at the Etihad. The Saints currently sit in 11th place and a point below ninth-placed Leicester City.
The last time these two sides played was at St Mary’s Stadium, when City comfortably dispatched their opponents in a 3-0 win. Goals from Vincent Kompany, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero ensured another three points in the battle for the top four last season. Pep Guardiola will be hoping for a similar result this time round.
Here is how we think Pep Guardiola will set out his team for the match.
GK - Ederson
Ederson will retain his position in goal.
RB - Kyle Walker
Walker will start at right-back as he looks set to compete with Sofiane Boufal.
CB - Eliaquim Mangala
With games coming thick and fast, Mangala looks set to come in for Kompany to give the Belgian rest before the weekend.
CB - Nicolas Otamendi
Otamendi will most likely start alongside either Mangala or Kompany.
LB - Fabian Delph
Delph will continue his run of games at left-back.
CM - Ilkay Gundogan
Fernandinho could do with a rest for this game, which would give Ilkay Gundogan another start.
CAM - David Silva
David didn’t put in his best performance last time out, so he will want to redeem himself against the Saints.
CAM - Bernardo Silva
With De Bruyne looking tired at the weekend, Bernardo could come in to replace him for this game.
LW - Leroy Sane
Like David Silva, Leroy put in arguably one of his most ineffective performances against Huddersfield. He will want to make up for it with a good performance against Southampton.
RW - Raheem Sterling
Raheem got the match winner at the weekend, which will only give him even more confidence for the rest of the season. He will start on the right flank.
ST - Gabriel Jesus
With Aguero starting at the weekend, Pep may start the Brazilian talent to compete with Virgil Van Dijk.