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Wins may be coming thick and fast for Manchester City, but the champions will be keen to put in a better performance against Southampton on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side needed extra time to beat Wolves last week after also finding things difficult against Fulham before the international break. The absence of Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri is keenly felt.
Still, Russell Martin would like to swap positions with his Saturday counterpart. Southampton have just one point from their first eight games and a two-goal lead and a 3-2 defeat to their newly promoted side Leicester has only increased the pressure on Martin, who his critics say is showing too little willingness to deviate from his possession template. a competition in which the saints are so often overpowered. Here’s how to watch the match and what you need to know.
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- Date: Saturday October 26 | Time: 10am ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium — Manchester, United Kingdom
- Live stream: Peacock
- Chances: Manchester City-800; Sign +850; Southampton +2000
Team news
Manchester City: There are no signs that Guardiola’s headache complaints are subsiding. Although players like Rodri and Oscar Bobb will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future, there is no good news about Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker. Indeed, Guardiola is still unable to provide a timetable for the former’s return, with Erling Haaland seemingly missing De Bruyne’s creative impetus.
Add Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish to the injury list and it’s quite a headache for Guardiola to navigate the attack, even if it’s just the players supporting the front three of Savinho, Haaland and Phil Foden. “Of course I would prefer to have the whole squad with the number of games, but it is what it is,” Guardiola said. [De Bruyne] will come back soon. I would love to tell you, but I don’t know.”
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Silva, Kovacic, Gundogan; Savinho, Haaland, Foden
Southampton: With Ross Stewart and Gavin Bazunu the only long-term absentees for Southampton, Will Smallbone’s hamstring problem will be a disappointment as the midfielder only just returned from a problem last week and re-injured himself in the process. Right-back Yukinari Sugawara is also being closely watched, but could play a role.
“You can approach this game in many different ways,” Martin said. “You can go to the Etihad, defend for 90 minutes and take something – or you can go there, express yourself, play bravely and try to have moments yourself. I hope we have given them enough courage to do that.”
Possible Southampton XI: Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning; Downes, Aribo; Dibling, Matheus Fernandes; Archer
Prediction
This could be a difficult day for Southampton, even more so if they are true to Martin’s suggestion, they try to express themselves. The city should have more than enough. CHOOSE: Manchester City 4, Southampton 0