Manchester City are set to be without four players for Saturday’s Premier League clash with already-relegated Southampton at St Mary’s.
Rodri has returned to training and is making positive progress in his recovery from a long-term knee injury, but this weekend’s contest will come too soon for the Ballon d’Or winner. The same can be said for Nathan Ake (foot), who has also returned to training, as well as John Stones (thigh) and Oscar Bobb (hamstring).
After missing six games with an ankle injury, top scorer Erling Haaland watched on as an unused substitute in last week’s 1-0 win at home to Wolves. Haaland scored in the reverse fixture against Southampton (a 1-0 win at the Etihad) and with another week of training under his belt, the Norwegian could be handed a start by Pep Guardiola on Saturday.
Omar Marmoush is yet to score a Premier League away goal, but he is likely to retain his place in the final third and could be joined in the first XI by Jeremy Doku, who assisted Kevin De Bruyne for the match-winner against Wolves.
De Bruyne could also start in an advanced role, but with one eye on his final Etihad appearance against a stronger opponent in Bournemouth next week, the Belgian could begin this one against the Saints as a substitute, which would give Guardiola the opportunity to tweak his midfield slightly.
Phil Foden, James McAtee and Nico Gonzalez will all be pushing for a recall and it could be the latter who gets the nod to start alongside Bernardo Silva and either Mateo Kovacic or Ilkay Gundogan in centre-midfield.
Guardiola may also be tempted to hand defender Manuel Akanji his first start since February 11, which could result in Josko Gvardiol moving to left-back and Nico O’Reilly dropping down to the substitutes’ bench. Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis, meanwhile, will continue to battle for a start at right-back and Ederson will hope to retain his spot between the sticks.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Gundogan, Bernardo; Marmoush, Haaland, Doku
> Click here to see how Southampton could line up for this contest
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