Early team news: Full travelling squad revealed for Southampton vs Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City embark on their penultimate away fixture of the 2024/25 Premier League season this weekend as they take on already-relegated Southampton.

Pep Guardiola still have plenty of work to do this season despite exiting the race for the Premier League title across December courtesy of an incredible decline in form and results, with qualification for the UEFA Champions League now a priority.

Manchester City know that finishing in the top-five places of the Premier League table will be enough to bank them a place in next season’s premier European club competition, and the side currently rank third and just three points behind second-placed Arsenal.

Despite the immense struggles of November and December across competitions, Pep Guardiola has managed to conduct a resurgence in form from his side in the last few weeks as they currently sit amongst a nine-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League and FA Cup.

That run has also secured Manchester City a place in their third consecutive FA Cup final having defeated Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium, with Crystal Palace awaiting in the final later this month.

Southampton have continued their same-old struggles since relegation was confirmed to the Championship having not won a game across any competition since February 1 and losing contests against the likes of fellow-relegated side Leicester City.

Having endured a whole host of issues on the injury and fitness front throughout the course of the season, matters are slightly improving for Pep Guardiola with Rodri and Erling Haaland the latest to return to first-team training in recent days.

Those returning stars, following Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji’s respective recoveries, have now left Nathan Ake and John Stones as the only outstanding issues for Pep Guardiola to contend with in the games that remain this season.

Ahead of the confirmed team news from St Mary’s this weekend, some initial information has began to filter throughout social media from journalists and sources regarding Manchester City’s starting line-up.

As spotted in footage revealed by Southampton Airport-focussed media channel ‘SotonAviation‘, Pep Guardiola has selected a 24-man squad to travel down to the south coast for Saturday afternoon’s meeting with Simon Rusk’s side.

Goalkeepers: Ederson, Ortega Moreno, Carson.

Defenders: Nunes, Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Khusanov, Reis, Gvardiol, O’Reilly.

Midfielders: Nico, Kovacic, Gundogan, Bernardo, Echeverri, McAtee, De Bruyne, Foden.

Forwards: Savinho, Haaland, Marmoush, Doku, Grealish.

Follow-up reporting from The FPL Newsletter also reveals that having recently recovered from an ankle injury and returned to first-team training, Erling Haaland starts for Manchester City against Southampton.

The same source has also confirmed Kevin De Bruyne’s place in Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up, while the return of the aforementioned Norwegian striker also means that Omar Marmoush drops down to the bench.

Simon Rusk and Pep Guardiola are expected to confirmed their respective Southampton and Manchester City starting line-ups around 13:45 (UK) on Saturday afternoon.

Now confirmed.