Manchester City visit St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday with the aim of keeping their Premier League lead over second-place Liverpool. The Cityzens are 11 points ahead of Liverpool going into the weekend.
Southampton are in good form and will be confident of taking points off of Manchester City at home. Although defeated 3-1 a week ago by Wolverhampton, the Saints went the four matches prior to the loss without a defeat.
Hat-trick hero 🎩The best memories from 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ as #SaintsFC emerged 4-2 victors over #ManCity 😇 pic.twitter.com/WdIKGEcZhA— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 21, 2022
Hat-trick hero 🎩The best memories from 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ as #SaintsFC emerged 4-2 victors over #ManCity 😇 pic.twitter.com/WdIKGEcZhA
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team took eight points from the last 18 available in the league. They scored 11 goals and conceded 12 times.
Manchester City are the Premier League’s in-form team, however. The Cityzens picked up a perfect 18 points from 18 points across their last six games in the division. Manchester City scored 21 goals and conceded a mere four times.
Southampton’s recent head-to-head record against Manchester City is strong. At least it is strong as it can be against Manchester City. The Saints picked up one win, one draw and two losses over the course of their last four meetings with the Cityzens.
Earlier this season, Southampton went to the Etihad Stadium and claimed a nil-nil draw. Manchester City’s Kyle Walker was sent off in the game. In 2019-20, Southampton claimed a home win against Manchester City with a mere goal scored in the game.
Still, Manchester City have dominated this series of fixtures. The Cityzens posted a record of 8W-1D-1L over the last 10 matches in all competitions with the Saints.
Guardiola is without Riyad Mahrez who is at the Africa Cup of Nations. Mahrez will be back sooner than expected due to Algeria, the reigning champions of AFCON, being elimanted at the group stage.
Nathan Ake could be back from injury. Meanwhile, Liam Delap, Cole Palmer, and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all expected to miss the game.
Hasenhuttl is without Moussa Djenepo due to the player being at the AFCON tournament. William Smallbone and goalkeeper Alex McCarthy are ruled out of the game with injuries.
Theo Walcott and Mohamed Elyounoussi are expected to miss due to COVID-19. Valentino Livramento is also ruled out with an injury.
Manchester City’s in great form and on the way to the Premier League title unless something seismic occurs in the Premier League. The Cityzens will claim a win at full-time with the teams combining for over 2.5 goals scored.
The Saints should get a goal as six of their last 10 games against Manchester City finished with both teams scoring goals.