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Pep Guardiola will be “tempted” to hand Erling Haaland a start in Manchester City‘s Premier League clash away against already-relegated Southampton on Saturday, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.
After missing six games with an ankle injury, Haaland made a welcome return to first-team training last week before watching on as an unused substitute in City’s narrow 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Guardiola acknowledged after the match that he “was thinking” about bringing Haaland on in the second half, but he decided to call upon other players from the bench as the Norwegian had only taken part in two training sessions before the clash with Wolves last week.
A swift return to action is now imminent for Haaland, who will be hoping to make an impact in City’s final three Premier League fixtures as well as the FA Cup final at Wembley on May 17.
Haaland has scored a team-high 30 goals in 40 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions this season, including 21 Premier League strikes in 28 games, and McInerney has tipped Guardiola to select his No.9 from the start at St Mary’s.
“Haaland will return with something to prove”
“I think he will start him. I just think he’ll be tempted,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “I think Haaland is not the kind of guy who needs loads of time on the training pitch because he is who he is and he’s naturally fit.
“Guardiola has pretty much always put him back in quite quickly. He’s got a tendency to do that with the best players. I think he’ll be tempted here as well. You could say maybe leave him for Bournemouth at home, but he will see the pitch and [he will get] substantial minutes, I reckon, at least half an hour.”
McInerney added: “Who would put it past Haaland to return with a hat-trick? It might not happen, he’s not been in that kind of form this season, but it could be the kind of game where Southampton really capitulate and City run riot a little bit.
“I think Haaland will return with something to prove a little bit, because he’s had a long time watching on the sidelines now and City have been in good form since he went out of the side. I think he’ll want to put his own stamp on the end of the season.”
McInerney would not be surprised to see Haaland joined in attack by Jeremy Doku and Omar Marmoush, but Kevin De Bruyne – the match-winner against Wolves – and makeshift left-back Nico O’Reilly may drop out of the starting lineup against the Saints.
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Doku, Marmoush, Gonzalez to start? De Bruyne, O’Reilly to be benched?
“I expect City will be aggressive. I don’t think they’ll go for the control as much, because I don’t think they’ll need it,” said McInerney. “We might see Doku start again. Haaland will probably get a start.
“Don’t be surprised to see Marmoush play on the right again, which didn’t work that well [against Wolves], but I think the direction will be to try and hit him in behind with the runs and so on.
“I expect De Bruyne probably not to play this one. I think he’ll probably play against Bournemouth at home instead, so I think De Bruyne will sit this one out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nico Gonzalez come back in. I think he might get a game.
“And probably the same backline, though it could be that we’re about to see Nico O’Reilly on the bench, because I think he had a pretty poor game (against Wolves) and Guardiola might want to lean on [Manuel] Akanji a little bit, with [Josko] Gvardiol back to left-back.”
Man City, who are unbeaten in nine games in all tournaments (W7 D2), will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top against a “diabolical” Southampton side, who are guaranteed to finish bottom of the table and suffered their 28th Premier League defeat of the season last weekend at the hands of fellow relegated outfit Leicester City.
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City should be confident of beating “the worst side possibly ever in PL history”
McInerney is confident that Guardiola’s side, who currently sit third in the table and only three points behind Arsenal in second, will come out on top in comfortable fashion to help boost their hopes of securing a top-five finish and Champions League football for next season.
“[Southampton are] a diabolical side,” said McInerney. “That sounds awful, but it’s just that they are, and it’s not their fault. You look at the players who play for them. It’s a Championship side in everything but the name. One of the least equipped sides you’ve ever seen in the Premier League.
“I’d be amazed if this isn’t a comfortable win for Manchester City. City should be looking at Arsenal ahead of them in the table and the goal difference because City could very much catch up with Arsenal… City could get five or six goals [against Southampton]. They should be aiming for that.
“This is one of the most obvious bankers you’ll ever see. [Southampton] are a really poor side. They’ve struggled to score goals. They’ve struggled to keep clean sheets. Leicester have been awful and they strolled to a 2-0 win the other day. This is the level they’ve got. They’re obviously down and out.
“City won’t take it lightly because they still need to qualify for the Champions League, but a win here against the worst side possibly ever in Premier League history would probably secure us Champions League football in all but name… I know it is away from home, but still, this should be three points for Man City.”
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
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