Man City vs Southampton preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Manchester City will continue their title defence against a winless Southampton side at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

City currently occupies second place in the Premier League table with 20 points, just a point adrift of first-placed Liverpool.

They’re the League’s highest scorers with 19 goals Pep Guardiola will look to unleash his attack against a defensively brittle Southampton side that has conceded a sky-high 18 goals this season, the second-most in the Premier League.

The 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad saw John Stones’ dramatic injury-time equaliser secure a point, keeping City’s impressive home record intact.

This streak continued with a win over Fulham, pushing City’s unbeaten Premier League home run to 34 games; Brentford were the last team to defeat City at the Etihad, with a 2-1 result in December 2022.

City are also on their longest-ever unbeaten Premier League stretch, spanning 31 games.

Facing Southampton on Saturday, they’ll feel confident given their record of winning 10 out of their last 13 league meetings with the Saints and going unbeaten in 12 matches at the Etihad against Saturday’s opponent.

Southampton, meanwhile, have had a tough return to the Premier League, with only one point from eight games and losses in all four away matches this season, making it unlikely they will break City’s home streak.

After narrowly securing a 2-1 Premier League win at Wolverhampton last weekend, City returned to the Champions League in dominant form, defeating Sparta Prague 5-0 at home on Wednesday night.

Phil Foden opened the scoring in just the third minute. A trio of second-half goals within a rapid ten-minute span then sealed the match: Erling Haaland netted twice, including a stunning backheel volley, with John Stones heading in another. Matheus Nunes capped off the win with a late penalty, rounding off an impressive night.

City’s next European fixture will be away at Sporting Lisbon in early November, but their attention now shifts back to the Premier League as they prepare to host Southampton.

The defending Premier League champions will now aim to climb to the top of the table with a win over Southampton and will be hoping for a favourable outcome when Arsenal and Liverpool meet at the Emirates on Sunday.

This season marks a historic moment in English top-flight football, as four teams have gone winless in their first eight matches—Southampton among them, with seven losses and just one draw since returning from the Championship last season.

The Saints seemed set for their first victory of the season against Leicester City last weekend, leading 2-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Cameron Archer and Joe Aribo. However, a resilient Leicester comeback, capped by a 98th-minute winner, saw the Foxes overturn the deficit and leave St Mary’s with a 3-2 win.

With 16 losses and five draws, Southampton are now on a winless streak of 21 Premier League games. Despite mounting pressure on head coach Russell Martin, reports suggest the club’s hierarchy has no immediate intention of making a change.

Currently positioned 19th in the table with only one point, the Saints head into Saturday’s game hoping to avoid a repeat of their 1998-99 campaign, where they went without a win in their first nine league matches.

Man City Vs Southampton match details

• Date: Saturday, 26 October, 2024
• Location: Manchester, England
• Venue: Etihad Stadium
• Kick-off time: 03:00 PM BST, 02:00 PM UTC, 10 AM ET
• Referee: Tony Harrington
• Assistant referees: Derek Eaton, Akil Howson
• Fourth official: Sam Allison
• VAR: David Coote
• Assistant VAR: Simon Long
• Tickets: Fans can buy Manchester City vs Southampton tickets through the club channels or via a trusted reseller like Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

• These two sides have faced off 101 times with City showing their superiority in this fixture with 41 wins as opposed to Southampton’s 33 while 27 matches have ended in a draw.

• Southampton are among four other Premier League teams who recently set the English League record for the most number of teams to go eight games without a single win in the competition.

• The Saints are on a 21-game winless run in the Premier League, losing 16 and recording five draws.

• A loss at the Etihad on Saturday could see Russel Martin’s side match their previous record of mine consecutive Premier League matches without a win in the 1998-99 campaign.

• Southampton will hope for their first win at the Etihad Stadium since a 3-1 win in 2004 under former head coach, Paul Sturrock.

• The 1-0 win over City at St. Mary’s Stadium in July 2020 is Southampton’s only win against the League champions in 14 games.

• City’s 31-match unbeaten run is their longest-ever unbeaten streak in the Premier League.

• The Cityzens have won 10 of their last 13 matches against Southampton.

• The Premier League champions are on a 12-game unbeaten run against the Saints at the Etihad Stadium, winning ten and recording two draws.

• Southampton have conceded eight goals from set-pieces, the most in the Premier League this season.

• Only Arsenal’s forward, Kai Havertz, has made more attempts from headers than City’s Erling Haaland, who has recorded ten shots from headers this season.

Team news

City will be without Jack Grealish who suffered a knock while Jeremy Doku is also ruled out with a muscle injury.

Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker are sidelined for this clash with groin and knee injuries while Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain the Cityzen’s longest absentees with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and leg fracture respectively.

With the squad stretched thin, Guardiola has limited options for rotations in Saturday’s match, though first-team players like Ederson, Josko Gvardiol, and Mateo Kovacic are anticipated to return to the lineup.

Following a phenomenal performance with a goal and two assists in the Champions League, Matheus Nunes might earn another start in a temporary role on the left flank, with Savinho on the right. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva are expected to play in advanced midfield roles behind Haaland as the central striker.

Southampton will be without Ryan Fraser, who is suspended for this fixture.

Goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu is stepping up his recovery from achilles injury while Ross Stewart and William Smallhone are sidelined for this clash with muscle and hamstring injuries respectively.

Japanese right-back, Yukinari Sugawara will face a late fitness test to determine if he’ll make the trip to the Etihad after an early withdrawal in the loss to Leicester City last week.

The Saints welcome back Jack Stephens who returns from a three-match ban and possibly rejoining Jan Bednarek and ex-Man City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis in central defence.

Joe Aribo may again partner with Flynn Downes and Mateus Fernandes in midfield while promising forward Tyler Dibling is expected to join striker Cameron Archer, who has netted twice in his last two Premier League appearances.

Predicted starting lineup

Man City predicted starting lineup:

Ederson; Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Lewis, Kovacic; Savinho, Bernardo, Foden, Nunes; Haaland.

Southampton predicted starting lineup:

Ramsdale; Stephens, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis; Walker-Peters, Aribo, Downes, Fernandes, Manning; Dibling, Archer.

Prediction

Despite having a plague of injury to key players, City’s superiority in quality is set to be in play and they’re expected to continue their dominance over the Saints.

The likes of Foden, Haaland, Bernardo and Savinho will look to capitalise on Southampton’s leaky defence to record a high scoreline as they await the results between Arsenal and Liverpool on the next day.

We’re predicting a 4-1 win for Man City.