Man City vs Southampton LIVE early team news, score predictions and predicted line-up

It's already been a great week for Manchester City and they can make it even better as they take on Southampton on Saturday.

City destroyed neighbours Manchester United on Sunday in a stunning 6-3 victory with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each grabbing hat-tricks. Haaland's remarkable form in front of goal continued on Wednesday as he notched another brace in the 5-0 win over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League.

Now Pep Guardiola's side will face an out-of-form Saints at the Etihad and a victory will see them climb to top spot in the table with Arsenal not in action until Sunday when they face Liverpool.

The only bad news this week is Kyle Walker's injury. The right-back suffered a groin strain in the derby which required surgery and he is now a major doubt for the World Cup. Fellow England internationals John Stones and Kalvin Phillips are also out injured.

You can follow all the build-up, action and reaction all afternoon right here.

Pep Guardiola played Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji in the derby as he wanted a right-footer and a left-footer, suggesting Akanji is ahead of Dias in the pecking order. Now Aymeric Laporte is back from injury, City have four quality centre-back options, and all four have shared the minutes in the last two games.

Guardiola hinted he wasn’t happy with the defending against United, with Dias and Laporte coming in for the Champions League. Was that simply rotation, or was it a reflection of some sloppy play from Ake and Akanji? The team sheet will be an interesting indicator of where Guardiola ranks the form of his centre-backs

Guardiola in programme: “I keep saying this but it is so true: your support here at the Etihad this season has been AMAZING! The noise last week for the derby was