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How Manchester City could line up against Southampton

How Man City could line up against Southampton
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Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Manchester City could line up for Saturday's Premier League clash with Southampton.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been boosted by the return of defender Nathan Ake ahead of Saturday evening's Premier League trip to Southampton.

The 26-year-old missed the narrow victory at home against title rivals Chelsea last weekend due to fitness concerns, but he has since returned to training and will be in contention to feature at St Mary's.

However, Oleksandr Zinchenko is ruled out with a knock, while Cole Palmer remains doubtful due to a lack of fitness, but otherwise, Guardiola has no other selection concerns, with another strong starting lineup set to be named this weekend.

The Spaniard has also revealed that Riyad Mahrez has been granted a week of holiday after Africa Cup of Nations holders Algeria crashed out at the group stage.

Ruben Dias watched on from the substitutes' bench against Chelsea but the Portugal international could return at centre-back at the expense of John Stones, joining Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo in the back four.

Kevin De Bruyne, who has assisted in all three of his league starts at St Mary's (four in total), will likely join Rodri and Bernardo Silva to form a formidable three-man midfield, though Ilkay Gundogan will be desperate to start having been benched in each of City's last three league games.

In attack, Gabriel Jesus could return to the first XI, which would likely see either Jack Grealish or Raheem Sterling drop to the bench; the latter scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at St Mary's last season.

Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, B. Silva; Jesus, Foden, Sterling

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How you voted: Southampton vs Man City

Southampton
8.7%
Draw
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Manchester City
84.5%
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Manchester City's Bernardo Silva celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on January 7, 2022
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Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City23183255144157
2Liverpool22146258193948
3Chelsea24138348183047
4Manchester UnitedMan Utd2211563630638
5West Ham UnitedWest Ham23114841311037
6Arsenal2111373325836
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs2011362624236
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2110471916334
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2261242323030
10Leicester CityLeicester207583437-326
11Aston Villa2182112832-426
12Southampton2251072634-825
13Crystal Palace225983134-324
14Brentford2365122638-1223
15Leeds UnitedLeeds215792440-1622
16Everton2054112435-1119
17Norwich CityNorwich2244141345-3216
18Watford2143142340-1715
19Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2129102143-2215
20Burnley1911081627-1113

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