Southampton: Hojbjerg back in contention for the Saints

After missing out last week through reported illness, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is back in contention for Southsmpton this week.

The Dane has been a mainstay in the Saints’ starting XI this campaign after forging a solid relationship with Mario Lemina, scoring twice from midfield as a result.

But the ex-Bayern man missed the draw with Newcastle through what was reported as illness, with Oriol Romeu filling the role as a result in a game the Saints should really have won.

However Hojbjerg will be available for selection this weekend when Southampton face Manchester City – a match which the Saints are being given absolutely no chance of winning.

However, in bigger news today Manchester City have confirmed that star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne will miss around six weeks with another injury, having not long returned from another setback that has seen him miss most of the season so far.

There’s no denying that the Belgian takes City to another level, although even without him Guardiola has one of the league’s best midfields at his disposal.

Bernardo Silva has played a deeper role this campaign often partnering his namesake in the middle of the park, with Fernandinho operating just behind the two.

With this City will still dominate the Saints on Sunday, but with Hojbjerg, Mark Hughes’ side could hold their own a bit better.

Last year the Saints were only narrowly beaten by the eventual champions on both occasions, whereas a lot of teams were drubbed by the record-breaking team.

Southampton will hope to take that mindset into Sunday’s match and will be a lot stronger if they can list Hojbjerg in their starting XI. It’ll almost certainly be a case of damage limitation so Hughes will want his strongest XI available.