With Arsenal not playing Liverpool until Sunday afternoon, Man City’s fixture at Southampton gives them a chance to close the gap at the top, and Pep Guardiola will unleash Erling Haaland once more in the hope he’ll find the goals to keep them in the title hunt.
He’s already got 28 in 26 Premier League games per BBC Sport, and with the Saints languishing at the foot of the table, he could find easy pickings and further condemn the south coast side to their fate.
Given the depth of the City squad, Pep Guardiola is able to chop and change without too much detriment to the overall mix of the starting XI, and with Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne all starting, Southampton could have it all to do.
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XI | Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Mahrez, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Bernardo, Gomez, Palmer, Lewis#ManCity | @HaysWorldwide pic.twitter.com/1gKWyYC4N1
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 8, 2023
One player who has missed out again and only finds himself on the subs bench is Kyle Walker.
Whilst the England international hasn’t done too much wrong this season, Guardiola has previously mentioned why Walker isn’t getting into the starting XIs at present, and it relates to a switch in formation.
At a recent press conference, detailed by 90Min, he said:
“He cannot do it. He will always have pace; Kyle at 60 years old will be the fastest player in this room. To play inside you have to have educated movements – he doesn’t have every one of the characteristics.
“He has played as a full-back coming inside in the past with four at the back. He has done really well but this shape of three at the back and two in the middle, he cannot do it.”
If City are able to really put the pressure on the Gunners and go on to overhaul them during the business end of the campaign, Walker will have the opportunity to look at another shiny Premier League winners medal, and after all, it’s a squad game these days.
For now, he’ll have to be content to watch along from the bench.