PREDICTED LINEUP - SOUTHAMPTON VS MANCHESTER CITY - THE RETURN OF HAALAND, BERNARDO AT LEFT BACK

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Manchester City travel down to the south coast to face bottom of the table Southampton, in another crucial game in their title fight.

The Blues are travelling to a venue where they've won just 2 of their last 5 games, and they have already lost there once this season in a dismal 2-0 showing in the Carabao Cup, arguably the worst performance of the Guardiola era.

And, what with there being a real possibility of title rivals Arsenal dropping points this weekend, who face Liverpool at Anfield, this game could pose a real opportunity for Pep Guardiola's side to cut down on the 8 point lead that the Gunners currently have.

However, Guardiola will have one eye on Tuesday's huge home Champions League tie against Bayern Munich, and may use this game as an opportunity to rotate his team, what with Southampton's poor form and struggle to score goals this campaign.

Here is our predicted line-up for the away clash with the Saints:

As always, Ederson will start between the sticks, as he is one of a few players who Guardiola almost never rotates, except for in the domestic cup competitions.

A lack of recent game time should give Kyle Walker a start at right back, alongside the ever present Ruben Dias. Aymeric Laporte should partner Dias, for the same reason as Walker's involvement in the team. Given Southampton's limited threat down the right hand side, and Guardiola' requirement to have a fullback dropping into midfield, it wouldn't at all be surprising to see Bernardo Silva start at left back, giving a rest to John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji before the Bayern Munich game.

Rodri should start at the base of midfield for City, alongside skipper Ilkay Gundogan in centre midfield. This game could provide a rare appearance for Kalvin Phillips, however, considering the fact City didn't play a game in midweek, and his poor performance at St Mary's in the Carabao Cup, it's much more likely we'll see him on the bench, at least from the start. Julian Alvarez should be rewarded for his fine performance against Liverpool with a start here, this time in attacking midfield.

Riyad Mahrez also performed fantastically against Liverpool, and a current lack of options on the wings should provide him with a start, although don't be too surprised to see a period on the pitch for Cole Palmer if City are in control. Partnering him on the wing will almost certainly be Jack Grealish, who is currently one of the first names on the team sheet for City.

And at centre forward, we should see the return of big Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, as Guardiola emphasised how "ready" he was during his press conference on Friday.

This leaves Stefan Ortega Moreno, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Sergio Gomez, Kalvin Phillips, Cole Palmer and Kevin de Bruyne as the substitutes.

CMON CITY!!!