Manchester City will be without both of their senior right-backs for Sunday's Premier League visit of Southampton.
Pablo Zabaleta is out following the blow to the foot that forced him off at Barcelona in midweek while Bacary Sagna is still sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Captain Vincent Kompany, who briefly returned from a groin injury against Everton last week, could again be doubtful after being unable to feature at the Nou Camp. The fitness of midfielder Fabian Delph remains unclear after a muscle problem.
Manager Pep Guardiola will keep faith in goalkeeper Claudio Bravo despite his sending off in the Champions League defeat by Barca.
Southampton striker Shane Long is out of Sunday's game.
The Republic of Ireland international suffered a hamstring injury during Thursday night's Europa League defeat at Inter Milan and although Saints have yet to discover the extent of the damage, he will not be available against City.
Full-backs Ryan Bertrand, Matt Targett and Cedric Soares will be assessed after missing the trip to Milan. Nathan Redmond returns to the squad after being rested.
Teams
Man City (from): Bravo, Caballero, Clichy, Kolarov, Maffeo, Kompany, Stones, Otamendi, Adarabioyo, Gundogan, Fernando, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Navas, Silva, Sterling, Sane, Nolito, Aguero, Iheanacho.
Southampton (from): Forster, Taylor, McCarthy, Soares, Targett, Bertrand, Martina, Yoshida, Fonte, Van Dijk, McQueen, Stephens, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Clasie, Reed, Tadic, Boufal, Davis, Olomola, Redmond, Rodriguez, Austin.
Manchester City v Southampton: Manager quotes
Pep Guardiola (Man City)
On whether he should change his methods: "I think about that, yes, but after that the solution is not better than what I believe. So I cannot. Do you know why? Because in seven years I won 21 titles."
On Aguero: "When Sergio decides to leave Manchester City, it will be his decision. I appreciate him as a football player and appreciate as a man what he did here."
On Aguero not starting against Barcelona: "I wanted one midfield player more in the middle. I spoke with Sergio, we talked about that, he was so understanding."
On Kompany: "Normally Vincent Kompany would be on the bench but he was not fit. When he is fit, he's a real central defender, I like him, but we tried to take care of him. He went to the doctors in Barcelona to say, 'I'm not able to play'."
On criticism of team selection against Barcelona: "My decision was Sergio Aguero. We lost 4-0. The guilty? I'm guilty. But we win in Barcelona, I'm a genius. (After) the 10 games of victory (people said) we are going to win four titles. Remember that? Now four games without victory. It's part of the process."
On needing time: "Three months together, you cannot imagine how difficult it is to build something, to create something. Barcelona have been playing that way for 15 years."
On squad harmony: "I'm not going to have dinner with them, I do not sleep with them, I don't have long conversations about what they believe. But what I feel, they follow me."
On Bravo: "I knew from the beginning when Claudio made a mistake, he would be on the front page. So the decision was not wrong in that moment but the action... he did not pass good and that can happen. It is a pity."
On Champions League: "Barcelona is not easy and neither is Germany. We knew that after we dropped two points in Glasgow. I know that we can be out of the Champions League, so it will be tough to go through but we are going to try."
On critics: "I'm sorry, one of my friends Ronald Koeman said in the press conference (he) never played against a team like Manchester City playing football like this. Sorry, that is the best title."
On four games without a win: "If I have one game with regret, it is in White Hart Lane, the others we played good in all the games."
Claude Puel (Southampton)
On Shane Long's injury: "Shane Long will be out with his hamstring injury.
"I don't know for how long at the moment, I will have a look but I don't know the timescale of the injury."
On squad rotation: "We have all the time fresh players to play good football. This is very, very important.
"Not all the players can play good football (if they play every game). It's important to consider all the players. We want to go for the qualification with all the squad and not just 11 players.
"We can see (we played a) good game with the quality against Inter away it is difficult to think and to answer the question. It's a very, very good game and unlucky. We are just unlucky.
"We do good work and with all the many chances we can play very good on the ground with quality, and just (need) a goal to be rewarded for all this good play. It is a frustration."
On Manchester City: "I think Manchester played a good game, a good style of game against Barcelona.
"For me there was no big difference between the two teams, apart from one player, Messi, who made the difference.
"But I saw a very good team at the start against Barcelona with quality, a good collective and good players.
"If they can do good work against us it's important for us to think and prepare. Just two days between the games is very difficult and Manchester have had more time to recover.
"It's difficult to play against Manchester City, or Barcelona, because they like to have the ball, they have quality. It's difficult to defend against.
"It's the challenge for us on Sunday to find the solution, but not just to defend. It's important to play and give problems to this team. It's important to play our football.
"We have played good football since the start of the season. Will will see against City because City are for me, the top, so it's a good challenge for us to see our progress in the Premier League."
Manchester City v Southampton: Betting verdict
Manchester City are, as you would expect, odds-on favourites to defeat Southampton in Super Sunday's opening match. I expect Pep Guardiola's men to get the job done but I wouldn't be wading in at the best price of 1/2 for the home win at the Etihad Stadium. City are winless in their last four outings and they'll have to be wary of a Southampton side with just one defeat in their previous eight games. That loss came when the Saints went down 1-0 at Inter Milan in the Europa League on Thursday night but it was a decent performance from Claude Puel's charges and certainly merited at least a point. City do though represent a significant step up in class and I think the extra attacking quality available to Guardiola will make the difference. Sergio Aguero is set to return to City's starting line-up after being benched for the 4-0 defeat against Barcelona in the Champions League and he's obviously the main threat at the head of the attack. Kevin De Bruyne is also in strong form in the Premier League and he joins Aguero in wanting to prove a point after both players missed penalties in last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Everton. City had enough chances in that game to win with ease but a superb display from Toffees goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg kept them out bar a 72nd minute equaliser from Nolito. Guardiola's side should also have got over the line in the 3-3 draw with Celtic at the end of September so I'm not too concerned by a winless sequence that followed the 10-match winning run to start the season. Sunderland, Stoke, West Ham, Manchester United and Swansea (twice, once in the league and once in the EFL Cup) have all scored against City despite falling to defeat them so far this season and I think it will be a very similar story here. Southampton's Charlie Austin is a striker for the hosts' defence to worry about and there should be some interest in his inviting odds in the first and anytime goalscorer markets. City have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six outings so I have to recommend odds greater than 2/1 available for the hosts to get back on track with victory in a match that should see the Saints also find the back of the net. Puel's team have been beaten by Manchester United and Arsenal so far when up against sides from the top eight of the Premier League so this clash should again prove Southampton are still a little way behind the heavy-hitters in the top-flight.
Verdict: Manchester City 2-1 Southampton
Manchester City v Southampton: Opta facts
- Manchester City had won four in a row in the Premier League against Southampton before their 4-2 loss to the Saints in May.
- Southampton have lost their last five league visits to the Etihad, last beating City on their own patch in April 2004. Paul Sturrock's side won 3-1 thanks to James Beattie and two from Kevin Phillips.
- Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice in City's 4-2 loss to Southampton in May, his most recent brace for the club.
- Shane Long has scored four Premier League goals against Manchester City, only against Aston Villa does he have more (6).
- Saints have kept two just clean sheets in their last 10 Premier League away games, however those shutouts have come on their last two away trips; they last kept three consecutive away clean sheets in the top-flight back in February.
- Pep Guardiola hasn't gone three games without a league win since the end of the 2014/15 season (three losses with Bayern after they had won the league).
- Dusan Tadic has created 28 chances in the Premier League this season, more than any other player, yet hasn't provided an assist for a teammate yet.
- David Silva has provided more Premier League assists than any other player in the competition since his debut (59).
- Southampton have collected 51 points in 2016, two more than Manchester City have in the calendar year (49).
- Sergio Aguero hasn't gone three Premier League games without a goal since December 2015.
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