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Will Man City’s Surge Continue Against Southampton?

The Premier League is about to kick into high gear as we look ahead to the remainder of the games this season, with the winter months providing us with more football than many would argue that we need. Still, there’s no reason to look down on having more football to watch, especially given that we’ve got some of the best teams in all of Europe to enjoy. Some would argue with that point but Liverpool reaching the Champions League Final should tell you all you need to know about the direction that things are going in, as the rise of English football begins once again.

But before we get into too much sentiment, we’ll touch on the game that we’re all here to talk about: Manchester City vs Southampton. The Champions of England have the world at their feet in the most literal sense possible, with their squad depth being beyond what many can comprehend. Still, even with that being an ever present fact, fans from other clubs are still convinced that their downfall is coming right around the next corner – and although it’s unlikely, there’s every chance that the Saints could be the ones to put the dagger into the heart of their unbeaten run in the top flight this season.

They’ll do well to get through the setup that Pep Guardiola has created, though, with the manager putting together a team that many are already calling one of the best in the history of the Premier League. While many will argue that Pep hasn’t done all too much, and that he’s just simply joined another world class team, he has been the one to kick things up a gear with City, and there’s a reason why so many pundits are convinced that they’ll be able to retain the title which is something so many have failed to do recently.

Mark Hughes, on the other hand, can’t seem to escape criticism. While he may do another fine job of leading Southampton away from the danger zone, there’s an equally likely chance of them slipping through the trap door – which almost happened back in May. Hughes is considered to be an old school manager in the most obvious sense of the word, and his attitude certainly doesn’t help matters. This isn’t the Southampton of old that we’ve seen, but maybe, just maybe, that can be a good thing if Hughes can get them playing as a unit.

It’ll come as no surprise to anyone reading this that City have won five of their last six games, with the other being a draw – and frighteningly enough, they appear to only just be getting warmed up. This recent run began when they narrowly edged out Hoffenheim in the Champions League before drawing 0-0 against Liverpool, which was actually a big missed opportunity for them. They stuck five past Burnley and three past Shakhtar Donetsk in two impressive performances, with 1-0 and 2-0 win over Tottenham and Fulham respectively emphasising just how well they’re doing defensively in addition to their attacking prowess.

Southampton’s last six games haven’t been quite as successful, and that’d probably be something of an understatement. It all began with an emphatic 3-0 loss against Liverpool followed by a 2-0 defeat to Wolves, although there’s not much shame in that given how well they started the campaign. Their Carabao Cup win over Everton certainly helped matters but not for long, with a loss to Chelsea being followed up by dull 0-0 draws against Bournemouth and Newcastle. Sure, they picked up two points, but it’s almost better to lose and show signs of hope than draw and be utterly uninspiring.

The biggest loss of all for Manchester City is obviously going to be Kevin De Bruyne, who is going to be out for 5-6 weeks with a problem on his other knee after just returning from injury. They’ve got strength in depth but the Belgian adds a whole different kind of dynamic to their squad so he’ll be sorely missed, but he isn’t the only problem for City either. Nicolas Otamendi has a tendon problem that will rule him out of the fixture, although Ilkay Gundogan could finally make his return to the starting XI from a hamstring injury.

There are no major fresh injury concerns for Southampton which will arguably be their biggest benefit in this game, with Hojbjerg resuming full training in the wake of an illness that kept him out of the Newcastle encounter. The club still have a lot of work to do in order to push themselves out of the current position they find themselves in, but they’ve got quality in their ranks and people seem to be ignoring that. Their squad is worthy of competing in the Premier League, but their mentality appears to be way off the mark right now.

These two sides are very familiar with one another with Manchester City narrowly leading the overall head to head standings 32-31, with 25 draws between them. Their first meeting came way back in 1910 but things have changed in a big way since then, and in their last game back in May, City narrowly beat Southampton 1-0. City have been in control of most of their games against the Saints in recent years, in fact, losing just one in their last ten despite the fact that Southampton have been a thorn in their side across the last few decades. Then again, history doesn’t tend to care all too much about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2HHyc5GKuA

Manchester City vs Southampton Betting Prediction

The reason why the odds are so in favour of Manchester City is simple: it’s incredibly likely that they’re going to come away with the three points, and that’s what we’re predicting, but if the Saints can park the bus then they might have some success. Obviously that isn’t a tactic that works 100% of the time but you could certainly argue that teams have struggled for ideas against City this season, so maybe going back to the drawing board with something a little ‘old school’ could wind up being the thing that pays off for them.

We think City will break them down late in the first half, but we don’t think they’ll end up getting frustrated by that. They know how to keep their composure and they know what kind of mentality they need to possess in order to become champions, and if they get that goal before half time, then we think they’ll be pretty laid back. We’re predicting them to get two more goals in the second half to make it 3-0, and that should be just enough to convince people that they are nowhere near a ‘collapse’.