Next defeat for the Saints?
Manchester City look forward to a favourite opponent in the shape of Southampton. The Saints have proved to be a reliable source of points in the recent past, with eight of their last nine meetings ending in victory for the Citizens. The hosts have also won their last three home games 5-0 on the season!
The home side also warmed up in the top flight during the week with a 6-3 thrashing of RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium. The visitors, for their part, are still winless after four rounds of matches and have not yet been able to convince even on the offensive.
Manchester City – Statistics & current form
Manchester City started the new season with a defeat against Tottenham, but the men of coach Pep Guardiola have not let themselves be distracted by this negative experience. They went on to win two impressive matches against the newcomers from Norwich and the Gunners.
Most recently, they also won the top match against Leicester away from home 1-0. The start of the Champions League was also satisfactory from Manchester’s point of view with a 6:3 win against RB Leipzig.
KDB is back
Furthermore, things are going better and better in terms of personnel. Kevin de Bruyne celebrated his comeback in the match against the fair city. The Belgian international had only made one short appearance so far this season due to injury and was now back in the starting eleven for the first time.
KDB returned to his favourite pastime of setting up goals by providing an assist. In all but one of his six seasons with the club, de Bruyne has always had a double-digit assist tally, so his return to the squad will be vital to Guardiola’s attack.
Moreover, the Belgian is particularly fond of playing against the Saints: The redhead has already scored four goals and provided seven assists against Southampton. This means he has a direct or indirect share in the goals every 63 minutes against the coastal footballers. Against no other team in the Premier League does KDB have a better record.
Foden also made a comeback recently
Furthermore, it was at least enough for 20 minutes of play in the case of Phil Foden last Wednesday night in the Champions League. The attacking midfielder played his first minutes of the season and is also available again after injury.
In view of this personnel development and the recent very strong offensive performances of the hosts, the odds on at least three goals by the champions in the match between Manchester City and Southampton are equally endowed with value. On top of that, bets on goals by City in both halves of the match are a good option.
Laporte’s return is uncertain
In contrast, though, there is still a question mark over the deployment of Aymeric Laporte in defence, who was absent from this week’s Champions League. The Spaniard’s absence was immediately noticeable, as Leipzig scored three goals. In the three previous league games in which Laporte was on board, City instead recorded a clean sheet in each.
Predicted Manchester City line-up:
Ederson – Dias – Ake – Zinchenko – Cancelo – Rodri – De Bruyne – Silva – Grealish – Mahrez – Torres
Last matches played by Manchester City:
Southampton – Statistics & current form
The Saints have made only a moderate start to the new season. After four rounds of matches, no victory has been recorded yet. On the other hand, only one defeat was recorded in parallel in the opener against Everton. Instead, a draw has been Southampton’s standard result of late, although they have admittedly been able to wrest a point from even heavyweights like Manchester United or West Ham United.
However, the games also revealed an offensive problem. With the departure of the best goal scorer of recent years in the person of Danny Ings, the attacking line has obviously lost quality. On average, the Saints have scored only one goal per league game so far.
Ward-Prowse looks to continue his goal scoring streak against Manchester
In the attack, hopes now lie primarily on James Ward-Prowse. The attacker scored the equaliser in injury time on the penultimate day of the game at Newcastle and has already scored in the last two away games against Manchester City. Adam Armstrong‘s performance could be improved.
The newcomer from Blackburn Rovers, who was runner-up in the Championship last season, has only scored in the opener against Everton. Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl also has to cope with a number of absentees. Among others, the veteran Stuart Armstrong is missing in midfield and Theo Walcott in attack.
Predicted Southampton line-up:
McCarthy – Salisu – Perraud – Stephens – Livramento – Romeu – Redmond – Ward-Prowse – Elyounoussi – Djenepo – Armstrong
Last matches played by Southampton:
Manchester City – Southampton Direct Comparison / H2H Record
The last direct encounter took place around half a year ago at the Etihad Stadium. On that occasion, the Sky Blues won 5-2 against the south coast side. The Citizens also won the previous match in the first leg 1-0.
Saint have not won in Manchester for 17 years
The visitors also have little hope from their recent away record in this fixture: their last win in Manchester was in 2004, and since then they have conceded eleven and drawn just one!
From a statistical point of view, it is therefore not surprising that the odds for the match between Manchester City and Southampton clearly place the role of favourite on the side of the hosts. However, the visitors can still take heart from their own scoring prowess in their visits to Manchester: The Saints have scored in 14 of their last 15 away games against City!
Manchester City – Southampton Tip
Manchester have bounced back quickly after their opening defeat and have impressed in recent league games. The recent performance in the Champions League, when RB Leipzig was clearly defeated, also fitted into the picture of a home team in good form.
For the match between Manchester City and Southampton , the tip therefore includes a home win with at least a three-goal difference In the last three home games, the hosts have always won 5-0 and with the return of Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, the attack is now even stronger
The prediction is supported by the Saints’ mediocre performances so far. The Hasenhüttl eleven has a huge gap in the attack due to the departure of Danny Ings and is still waiting for its first win of the season.
Furthermore, the statistics speak for a clear home victory: The Citizens have won eleven of the past twelve home games and have recorded an impressive goal difference of 36:13 in this review! Bet365 offers odds of 2.10 on the clash between Manchester City and Southampton for this prediction.
