England Premier League
Saturday 19th December 2020
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: St Mary's Stadium
Match Preview:
Southampton have really impressed and so when they meet Manchester City at the weekend this match on reflection to other seasons doesn’t feel like it will be as straightforward as many people may think.
The Saints have climbed up to 3rd place and have 24 points. They come into this match with no defeats in their last three and in midweek they went to Arsenal and drew 1-1. Indeed it said everything about Southampton’s recent form that they left the Emirates very disappointed with that result as they had been the better team.
There is a wave of confidence at Southampton and at home they have the 2nd best record in the league where they have won 12 points from 18. That includes 4 victories and 2 defeats. Their last loss at home was against Manchester United where they blew a 2 goal lead to lose 3-2.
Manchester City are back down in 8th place and have fallen 8 points behind league leaders Liverpool. They received a blow in midweek when surprisingly they could only draw at home to West Bromwich Albion. It means that City have drawn their last two games and whilst the club remain a threat with the quality of players they possess there is a feeling that a possible third title under Pep Guardiola is slipping away.
Away from home City have lost just once but like Liverpool they are drawing too many games, it has been 50% so far and they have failed to win in their last two trips.
The normally free scoring City have only scored 1 goal in their last 3 away games and with a total of six away goals have the same record as Fulham.
Team News:
Southampton: The Saints have no injury concerns coming into this match.
Manchester City: Oleksandr Zinchenko has an unspecified problem which meant he missed the game in midweek. It is therefore unsure if he will be available for this tie. Eric Garcia is out long term with a leg injury.
Southampton vs Man City Head to Head:
Last season Southampton won this fixture 1-0.
Before that game Manchester City had won the last six league meetings in a row.
3 of the last four meetings has seen both teams to score.
In the last 13 league games the teams have only drawn once.
Southampton vs Man City Prediction:
Southampton look fearless and aren’t afraid to attack but what will they do when they meet City? It is a question of looking at their form and thinking we can win this? Or will the Saints show too much respect even at home and sit back?
It’s possible at this early stage of the season that manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will go for the game and try and make life difficult for the visitors, they have the players to do it. Everyone is waiting for that City explosion and to see good consistent results but it doesn’t seem to be happening for them, and we feel that the choices below should favour the home side, though we should proceed with caution.
On the other side Manchester City are around 1.44 to win the game which doesn’t seem to represent any value given that they have won just over 30% of their away matches so far and Southampton will be no pushovers. Of course if everything clicks for City they can score 4 or 5 goals but we can’t keep waiting for that to happen and the value does seem geared towards Southampton.
Southampton vs Man City Betting Tips:
Southampton to beat Manchester City with a +2 goal start at 1.62
Over 2.5 goals at 1.57
Both teams to score (Yes) at 1.70
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