Pep Guardiola confirmed Erling Haaland 'will be ready' for Saturday's trip to Southampton and the Manchester City star is expected to start.
City head to St Mary's with a chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to just five points, before Mikel Arteta's side face Liverpool on Sunday. Guardiola will want to remain in touching distance of his title rivals in the build-up to a colossal meeting between the two at the end of the month.
In Southampton, they face a side bottom of the table, winless in their last four and onto their third manager of the season in Ruben Selles - bizarrely, Guardiola will have faced all three come Saturday evening. The Saints knocked City out of the Carabao Cup in January but were comfortably beaten 4-0 at the Etihad in October.
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Haaland scored the last of those four goals and the Norwegian has returned from injury in time to face them, following his withdrawal from international duty with a groin issue. Haaland missed the 4-1 win over Liverpool last weekend but is expected to come straight back in at the expense of Julian Alvarez.
A hat-trick for the 22-year-old - which is never out of the question - would take him onto 45 for the campaign and see him surpass Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah to break the record for most goals across all competitions from a Premier League player.
Alongside Haaland, Jack Grealish is almost certain to continue his fine form on the left after a Man of the Match performance against Liverpool saw him get a goal and an assist. The former Villa man admitted enjoying his football once again after that win, and it is showing with a freedom cutting in from the left not seen since his time in the Midlands.
With Phil Foden still recovering from appendicitis surgery, options on the left are limited and Guardiola could be tempted to hand Bernardo Silva a start, Riyad Mahrez having played the full 90 minutes last weekend and often preferred for the Champions League - he started six of their eight European games - while the Portuguese man sees the majority of his minutes come in the league.
Normal service will resume in midfield, with club captain Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne - both fresh from goals against Liverpool - flanking the ever-present Rodri. Guardiola has seemingly set his stall out in the middle of the park, with the above trio all starting at least 25 of the 28 games so far this season.
City's last two league games saw wins against Liverpool and Crystal Palace, with a major factor in those wins a defensive sturdiness that has come from playing four natural centre-backs across the defensive line. John Stones was hugely impressive drifting from right-back into central midfield last weekend, while Nathan Ake provided the width on the left.
Both are expected to keep their places on the flanks, with Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji likely starters in the middle, although predicting defensive changes with Guardiola is no easy task.
What is straightforward is the man between the posts, Ederson an ever-present in the league and virtually guaranteed to keep his place in search of an 11th clean sheet of the campaign.
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