City make four changes for Saints clash | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made four changes to the City starting XI for the visit of Southampton.

Returning to the line-up are Ederson,  Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol.

Stefan Ortega Moreno, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Ilkay Gundogan all drop to the bench.

A victory will move City to the top of the Premier League, with leaders Liverpool taking on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

Teams

CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Gvardiol, Dias (C), Akanji, Kovacic, Bernardo, Nunes, Foden, Savinho, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Stones, Ake, Gundogan, O'Reilly, McAtee

SOUTHAMPTON XI: Ramsdale, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens (C), Downes, Manning, Lallana, Fernandes, Dibling, Archer

Subs: McCarthy, Aribo, Armstrong, Bree, Sugawara, Sulemana, Cornet, Ugochukwu, Onuachu

Formation

Ederson will have Rico Lewis and Gvardiol as his right-back and left-back respectively this afternoon, with Manuel Akanji partnering skipper Dias in central defence.

Kovacic will anchor a three-man midfield that will probably include Bernardo and Phil Foden.

Up front, we are likely to see Matheus Nunes and Savinho on either flank with Erling Haaland down the middle.

On paper, that's 4-3-3 - on the pitch, it's likely to look anything but!

Nunes' chance to shine

Pep Guardiola has said Matheus Nunes deserves to play more than he has been doing.

The Portuguese found it hard to force his way into the side last season, with his appearances few and far between - and often brief.

Such are the demands on new players coming into this City side, it can often take a year before we get to see the very best of them.

So far this campaign, we have seen a much more confident and dynamic Nunes who has impressed whenever he has played.

He has also now got a couple of goals and three assists under his belt, too.

Named in the starting XI today, the former Wolves star has the chance to back up perhaps his best performance in sky blue yet against Sparta Prague on Wednesday evening.

Clearly a popular member of the squad, this could be the real start of Nunes' Manchester City era.

Blues won't underestimate Saints

Southampton arrive at the Etihad in deep trouble with eight games played.

Just one point from a possible 24 and a -12 goal difference is not the start manager Russell Martin would have envisaged.

To his credit, however, he has stuck with his possession-based style of play and, it should be said, won plaudits for doing so.

Of course, there are few better teams at controlling possession than City, so the question leading up to this game has been whether Martin will cast aside the pass and press and focus on trying to keep the Blues at bay.

It seems unlikely.

The Southampton boss has been encouraged by spells in recent matches and though the league table never lies,  it's true that some of Saints' displays have perhaps merited more.

City will be mindful of last weekend, when we again faced a side at the foot of the table in Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Gary O'Neil's side were bright and bubbly and only a favourable late VAR decision - albeit correctly awarded - gave the Blues a narrow 2-1 success.

Often, clubs with nothing to lose can be a danger with a top versus bottom contest considered by many as a 'free hit'.

How Saints approach this game will become evident very quickly, but City will not be underestimating the visitors no matter what tactics they adopt this afternoon.

Stats, facts and milestones

● Since losing three consecutive Premier League home games against Southampton between 2001 and 2004, Man City are unbeaten in their last 12 against them at the Etihad Stadium (W10 D2).

● Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D3 L10), picking up a 1-0 home win in July 2020.

● Manchester City are on their longest ever unbeaten league run, going 31 Premier League games without defeat since losing to Aston Villa last December (W25 D6). They’ve fallen behind 12 times in that run and come back to win 10 of those games (D2).

● Southampton have lost seven of their eight Premier League games this season, drawing the other against Ipswich in September. It’s just the second time the Saints have ever failed to win their opening eight matches of a league campaign, after 1998-99 (first 9).

● Manchester City have gained 13 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. Indeed, it is the most points a team has earned from losing positions in the opening eight matches of a Premier League season ever.

● Manchester City had 85 touches in Wolves’ box in their 2-1 win last Sunday, the most by a team in a Premier League game this season and most by a team in an away game on record since 2008-09. Indeed, City’s total of 404 opposition box touches is the most by a team through their opening eight games of a season Opta has on record.

● No team has scored more goals from corners in the Premier League this season than Manchester City (3), while Southampton have shipped the joint most corner goals (5). In City’s last game, they won in the 90th minute via a corner, while in Southampton’s last game they lost in the 90th minute to a goal from a corner.

● Russell Martin has picked up just one point in his first eight Premier League matches as Southampton manager (D1 L7) – in Premier League history, only Mick McCarthy has ever won fewer points in his first eight games (zero).

● Erling Haaland has gone three Premier League games without a goal for Man City for just a second time, going four without one between December and February last season. He had just 13 touches against Wolves last time out, his fewest in a match in the top-five leagues in Europe when he has completed 90 minutes.

● Among players to play 500+ minutes against newly promoted teams, only Gianluca Vialli (one every 56 minutes) has a better minutes per goal ratio than Man City’s Erling Haaland (one every 60 mins, 13 goals in 780 minutes). He is looking to become the first player to score in seven starts in a row against promoted teams since Sergio Agüero in November 2017.