Wesley Fofana and Youri Tielemans have both been dropped by Leicester City with Ayoze Perez handed a rare start by Brendan Rodgers.
Amid interest from Chelsea, Fofana has been left out of the squad to face Southampton. Rodgers had said he had no concerns over excluding the centre-back if he did not feel he was in the right frame of mind to play.
Tielemans, who is attracting interest from Arsenal, is also missing from the starting line-up, but does get a spot on the bench. Rodgers has opted for a midfield three of Wilfred Ndidi, James Maddison, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
There is only room for three midfielders with Rodgers switching back to 4-3-3 to accommodate the fit-again Harvey Barnes. He plays on the left, with Perez on the right. The Spaniard has not played a single minute so far this season, but did score twice off the bench in this fixture on the final day of last season
At the back, without Fofana, Rodgers sticks with a centre-back pairing of Jonny Evans and Daniel Amartey. Caglar Soyuncu is on the bench.
City (4-3-3): Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Evans, Justin; Ndidi, Maddison, Dewsbury-Hall; Perez, Vardy, Barnes. Subs: Iversen, Thomas, Soyuncu, Mendy, Praet, Tielemans, Albrighton, Iheanacho, Daka.
