MY ACCOUNT
– Man City have won five of their last six games without conceding
– Southampton have not scored in four of their last six PL games
– Recommended Bet: Man City to win to zero
Manchester City will look to put the pressure on leaders Arsenal when they travel to St Mary’s to face relegation-haunted Southampton on Saturday evening.
City were too slick for Liverpool on their return to action after the international break as goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish secured a 4-1 win at Etihad Stadium last weekend.
And with Erling Haaland due to return, Pep Guardiola will be confident of avoiding the same fate his side suffered on their last visit to the South Coast when the Saints upset them in the Carabao Cup.
Southampton were left at the foot of the Premier League table after going down 1-0 at West Ham last Sunday and Ruben Selles’ men will fear being cut adrift if they succumb to the champions.
Team news
Armel Bella-Kotchap (shoulder) is a “question mark”, according to Selles, while Che Adams (calf) and Mohammed Salisu (unspecified), who both missed Southampton’s loss at the London Stadium, have not recovered in time to face City.
Duje Caleta-Car and Sekou Mara stepped into the line-up, but neither did enough to stake a serious claim for another start.
Paul Onuachu, who hit the crossbar with a header after coming off the bench last weekend, is pushing to replace Mara, but Selles might prefer the Frenchman’s pace over the Nigerian’s presence.
As for City, Haaland has returned to training after overcoming a groin strain and should have some part to play at St Mary’s.
Whether it is from the start or off the bench remains to be seen as Alvarez showed he is a more than capable deputy in last weekend’s mauling of the Merseysiders.
Guardiola is no stranger to changing a winning side, however, and could recall Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva or Rico Lewis to his line-up.
But Phil Foden looks set to miss out again as he recovers from an operation to remove his appendix.
The stats
City have scored 17 goals in their last three games in all competitions and conceded just one.
In contrast, Southampton have scored just 23 league goals in 29 games so far this term — putting them on course to break the club record for the fewest in a season (34 in 1995-96).
Haaland has scored five more Premier League goals than the Saints (28) and five more goals than the South Coast club have managed in all competitions (42).
If the Norwegian nets a brace against Southampton this weekend he would equal the record for a player in their debut Premier League season, after Kevin Phillips netted 30 times for Sunderland in 1999/2000.
Prediction
Southampton predictably flopped in their relegation six-pointer against West Ham, but this match is almost a free hit as no one expects anything from them, albeit for good reason.
City take the Premier League’s second-best away record to the ground of the worst home team.
The champions are in prolific form right now and will go up against a team that has conceded the highest number of home goals in the top flight.
Guardiola rested Haaland, Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez when his side were beaten at St Mary’s in January and will not make the same mistake twice, so City should get the better of the hosts this time around.
The Saints will probably have to play like an away team, sitting deep and hoping to create opportunities via a fast break, but they have scored only one counter-attack goal in the league all season long.
So the three points that the Citizens take back to Manchester could well be accompanied by a sixth clean sheet in their last seven games.
Back Man City to win to zero at 4/5 with LiveScore Bet.
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