Manchester City vs Southampton
England Premier League.
Date: Sunday 23rd October, 2016
Kick-off: 13:30 UK.
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester United
Subs from Caballero, Navas, Clichy, Iheanacho, Adarabioyo, Gunn, Nolito, Kompany, Fernando, Maffeo
Doubtful None
Injured Zabaleta (foot, 29 Nov), Sagna (hamstring, 12 Nov), Delph (knock, unknown)
Suspended None
Unavailable Touré (club dispute)
Form WWWWLD
Discipline Y15 R1
Leading scorer Agüero 5
Southampton
Subs from McCarthy, Yoshida, Boufal, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Rodriguez, Soares, Gardos, Reed
Doubtful Bertrand (hamstring), Soares (foot)
Injured Long (hamstring, 19 Nov), Targett (hamstring, 19 Nov), Pied (knee, Jun)
Suspended None
Form DLWWDW
Discipline Y12 R0
Leading scorer Austin 4
Reason For Manchester City vs Southampton Betting Tips
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola’s mettle is really being tested at the moment. They were completely humbled at the Camp Nou in midweek as a Lionel Messi hat trick helped Barcelona to a 4-0 thrashing, aided also by Claudio Bravo’s ridiculous choice to handle the ball outside his box and get sent off for it.
This was always a likely defeat for Manchester City, but what they won’t have expected is for this to make it four losses in a row. They failed to beat Everton last weekend and lost to Spurs before that. They remain top of the Premier League, but that could all change by the time they face Southampton on Sunday.
Sergio Aguero was handed an unexpected place on the bench for Wednesday’s match, which was a very odd decision indeed considering his form this season. He has netted five in the Premier League, despite being banned for three games, and six in the Champions League. Four of these 11 goals have come at the Etihad. He has only netted two in his last five matches though.
Raheem Sterling has been on fire though. The flying winger has bagged four goals at home this season and will be looking forward to taking advantage of Southampton’s injury crisis in the full back position. Ryan Bertrand, Cedric Soares, and Matt Targett are all out injured, and considering Sterling has been City’s best player at home this season I’d say odds of 15/8 for him to take advantage of this crisis and get on the score-sheet are excellent value for money.
Southampton endured their own disappointment in midweek as they dominated Italian giants Inter Milan at the San Siro, only to lose the match 1-0. This will be a hard defeat for Claude Puel and his men to take considering their performance, but they are still in a good vein of form.
They have won five of their last eight in all competitions, and the defeat to Inter ended a seven match unbeaten streak. Away from home they have only won one of their six matches this season though, and they’ve failed to score in four of them.
This lack of scoring form on the road will come as a relief to Manchester City. The hosts have managed to keep a clean sheet in three of their six home games this season, so keeping Southampton at bay looks a distinctly achievable objective. Backing Both Teams Not to Score at 1/1 look good value for money given both side’s recent form, and I’m also going for a 2-0 win for Manchester City at 15/2 for my correct score prediction.
Manchester City: Team News
Claudio Bravo is expected to keep his place in the goal despite receiving a red-card against Barcelona that cost Citizens the game.
Bacary Sagna is the only player out with injury, while Fabian Delph and Pablo Zabaleta are carrying minor knocks.
Vincent Kompany is available for selection and could feature at some point in the game, coming off the bench.
Manchester City: Predicted Line-up (3-4-3)
Bravo – Otamendi, Stones, Clichy – Sterling, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Sane – Silve, De Bruyne, Aguero.
Southampton: Team News
The club record signing Sofiane Boufal is back to full fitness and could make his debut here as Shane Long is injured and Nathan Redmond is yet to recover from a knock.
Ryan Bertrand and Matt Target are minor doubts, while Cedric Soares, Jeremy Pied and Florin Gardos are sidelined with injury.
Southampton: Predicted Line-up (4-3-1-2)
Forster – McQueen, Dijk, Fonte, Martina – Davis, Romeu, Hojbjerg – Tadic – Austin, Boufal.
Manchester City vs Southampton: Head-to-Head Stats
Southampton managed to earn a rare win against Manchester City when the sides met at the St. Mary’s Stadium on May 2016 for the 2015/16 Premier League clash. This ended Manchester City’s 4 match winning run against the Saints in all venues. At the same time, City won the first leg clash at the Etihad by a 3-1 margin.
Manchester City have won in each of the last 6 home matches against Southampton in all competition, 5 among them are Premier League clashes. They have also scored at least 2 goals in every match during the period.
Prediction
There is no doubt that Manchester City are in a mini crisis at the moment. But Pep Guardiola is a more than capable manager and we can expect him to get the team fired up for the Saturday’ clash. Southampton are no pushovers, they are playing some wonderful football at the moment. However, they haven’t won an away games against Manchester City in all competitions since 2004.
Manchester City vs Southampton: Betting Tips
Both Teams to Score and Manchester City to win at 3.00 (2/1)
Over 1.5 goals in First Half at 2.25 (5/4).
