Manchester City v Southampton - Preview and possible lineups

Manchester City: Kevin de Bruyne will not feature for Manchester City. He is out for five to six weeks with knee ligament damage sustained in Thursday's EFL Cup win against Fulham.

Ilkay Gundogan has returned to training following a hamstring injury but is a doubt while Nicolas Otamendi is out with a tendon problem.

Southampton: Former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has a clean bill of health. 

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Southampton's strengths: 

"I am impressed with the quality Southampton have in the middle and at the front.

"They have huge talent and are so deep and so physical. It is so complicated to beat them. We must be sharp and move well and be clever. It will be a tough game."

Southampton manager Mark Hughes on facing the champions: 

"There are always elements of any team that you can look to exploit, no matter how good they are.

"They [Manchester City] get into winning positions very quickly which we can't let happen. They are going to have a lot of possession and we need to be patient and know when to press and when we can't press."

Form: 

Did you know? 

Manchester City have won seven of their last nine Premier League meetings with Southampton, drawing one and losing one.

In all competitions, Southampton are winless in their last eight visits to the Etihad (D1 L7).

Both of Man City's wins against Southampton in the Premier League last season came courtesy of 90th minute winning strikes - Raheem Sterling in the home game and Gabriel Jesus away.

Man City are looking to keep a clean sheet in seven consecutive league games for the first time in their entire history.

Prediction: 4-0 

Possible lineups: 

Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy; Bernardo, Fernandinho, David Silva; Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling

Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Soares, Stephens, Hoedt, Bertrand; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Lemina, Elyounoussi; Ings