Southampton - Man City: Increasing pressure for Arsenal?
Pep Guardiola's side have won the last four matches - their longest winning streak this season. If they continue to win three points, Man City will repeat the performance they did in the sprint period last season, from April to May. Due to playing against Arsenal one day, this is also an opportunity for Man City to put pressure on the top team, who are eight points ahead of them.
Last weekend, Man City showed their strength in a 4-1 win over Liverpool. Despite being conceded first by Mohamed Salah, the defending champions equalized thanks to Julian Alvarez before Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish scored consecutively in the second half. After the match, Guardiola considered this to be one of Man City's best matches in his seven years in charge.
Man City has won all of the last 10 times against the bottom teams of the English Premier League - a series of matches that have lasted since March 2016. They did not even concede a goal in the last 14 times against the bottom teams. In the first leg, Man City easily crushed Southampton 4-0 when Erling Haaland scored to set the score. According to confirmation from Guardiola, the Norwegian striker will return this weekend after taking a break from the win against Burnley on March 18 due to injury.
"I don't think one player can change the way the team plays. One player can make the difference if the other 10 play to their full potential. Haaland's presence will make City's system better. a little bit in terms of creating chances to score. But Man City is not dependent on Haaland. They are the team that knows how to bring out the best in their players and that's something we should be concerned about," said Southampton coach Ruben Selles. about Haaland's return.
After succeeding Nathan Jones, Selles helped Southampton win two of his first three games in charge. This makes the Spaniard gain confidence from the leadership and optimists believe he can bring Southampton out of the bottom position. But the home team of St Mary's has not won the last four matches (two draws, two losses) and is four points away from the safe position.
Despite being held 1-1 by Southampton at St Mary's last season, Man City is playing well away. They won four of the last six away games (draw one, lose one). In addition, the last 13 encounters with Southampton, Man City lost only one. It was a 0-1 defeat at the Etihad in July 2020. However, the last encounter between the two teams in the quarter-finals of the League Cup saw a 2-0 victory for Southampton with goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo.
"Southampton has played a couple of games under the new manager and is starting to show a clear style of play. At this point, every club is playing for a purpose. The race for relegation is also fierce. It's like a championship race. That's why every game has its own meaning and Man City needs to be ready, because Southampton is also a difficult opponent to play," Guardiola commented on the opponent.
Southampton have kept six clean sheets in nine home games in the 2020-2021 season. But since then, they have only done this seven times in 43 games, and only one of those has happened this season. Southampton's number of clean sheets at home is the least in the Premier League this season and that achievement can hardly be improved before Man City's strong attack.
Haaland's return makes Phil Foden the only injury left on the away side. Southampton do not have Juan Larios, Tino Livramento and Armel Bella-Kotchap while Che Adams and Mohamed Salisu's ability to play is unclear.
