Man City welcome back Fernandinho for second Southampton clash of the week

Fernandinho returns from suspension for Manchester City as they host Southampton for the second time in five days.

The midfielder missed the Carabao Cup victory over the same opponents after picking up a red card in last weekend’s Premier League win against Aston Villa.

Rodri (hamstring), Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte (all knee) remain on the sidelines.

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is confident wingers Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal will shake off minor knee problems to be available at the Etihad Stadium.

Redmond suffered a slight issue following a tackle in training, while Moroccan Boufal was struggling after the midweek Carabao Cup loss to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Left-back Ryan Bertrand is banned following his red card in the 9-0 loss to Leicester but Cedric Soares (calf) and Moussa Djenepo (hip/thigh) have returned to training and could make the bench.

Manchester City provisional squad: Ederson, Bravo, Walker, Cancelo, Otamendi, Stones, Garcia, Angelino, Mendy, Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, D Silva, B Silva, Foden, Mahrez, Aguero, Jesus.

Southampton provisional squad: Gunn, McCarthy, Valery, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Danso, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Ings, Stephens, Soares, Armstrong, Boufal, Djenepo, Long, Adams, Obafemi.

FourFourTwo Staff

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