Southampton look to continue their strong form as they face a difficult test against Manchester City at St Mary’s Stadium.
With Tottenham not in action until Sunday, victory will put Southampton second, whereas Man City look to temporarily climb to fifth with a win.
Team News
Southampton have no fresh injury concerns to report after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
Man City will be without Oleksandr Zinchenko due to a undisclosed injury as the Ukrainian joins Erik Garcia on sidelines, as Garcia continues to recover from a heavy knock.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have won just one of their last seven league matches against Manchester City (W1, L6).
- Man City have won three of their last five trips to St Mary’s (W3, L2).
- City’s Sergio Aguero scored three goals in two of three meetings against Southampton in all competitions last season, although none of those goals came at St Mary’s Stadium.
- Che Adams has created four assists in 13 league appearances this season compared to just two assists in 30 appearances last season.
- No Man City player has been substituted more times this season in the league than Riyad Mahrez and Ferran Torres, who have both been benched four times in nine and eight league appearances respectively.
Prediction
Southampton seem to have found a real zip heading into Christmas because they relentlessly caused Arsenal’s defence serious issues in midweek, which consequently saw the Gunners’ discipline issues emerge again despite failing to make the one extra man advantage count.
Man City meanwhile came up against an unexpectedly stubborn West Brom team on Tuesday who dug in and clawed out a huge point, despite the Citizens dominating which might benefit them here because if thought the Baggies were difficult then Southampton will be a tougher test of City’s quality.
This therefore could well be a cracking tie because Southampton have a real confidence about them at present and I can seriously see them mixing up their tactics against a City team who are likely to dominate, so a score draw would be a fair bet between these two teams.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Manchester City
Result: Southampton 0-1 Manchester City