
Second-from-top Manchester City host second-from-bottom Southampton at The Etihad this Saturday with the Sky Blues the only side still unbeaten in the PL.
Pep Guardiola’s side have 3 wins and a draw from their first 4 home games this term and face a Saints side who have the worst away record in the league, with Russell Martin’s men having lost all 4 games on the road.
Southampton are bottom of the current 6-match form table, taking just 1 point from 18 available and have suffered 5 defeats in their last 6 matches. The Saints are finding it extremely tough to adjust to playing at this level again and are in danger of being cut adrift of safety at the bottom of the PL table.
Champions City, on the other hand, look finely poised to mount another title challenge this campaign as they chase a 7th PL title in 8 seasons. Guardiola’s men head into this clash just one point behind leaders Liverpool in the defence of their crown.
Not only are Manchester City the sole team still to taste defeat in the top flight this campaign, but they are unbeaten in the last 31 matches in the PL, a new club record.
City’s last loss came against Aston Villa in December of 2023. This undefeated streak is even longer specifically when playing at The Etihad, with Guardiola’s side now incredibly unbeaten in the last 34 matches on home soil. Their last defeat came against Brentford in November of 2022.
Given these simply staggering statistics and both sides' respective current form, it looks impossible to see anything other than another win for the Citizens against a beleaguered and downbeaten Saints team.
Having led 2-0 at half-time last weekend against Leicester, to then go on and lose the match in the manner they did, was a crushing defeat for The Saints. The task of keeping Southampton in the top flight and avoiding an immediate return back to the Championship looks like a mountain to climb for Russell Martin now.
Southampton have lost their last 3 fixtures in the PL and 7 out of 8 in the league this term, their only point coming against relegation rivals Ipswich at St. Mary’s in September and looked dejected at full-time against The Foxes.
Winless Southampton are the joint 2nd lowest scorers in the top-flight this term, finding the back of the net a miserly 6 times. Only Crystal Palace have scored fewer than the south-coast club, with the Saints failing to score in 3 of their 8 fixtures already this season.
By contrast and unsurprisingly, City have scored in all 8 PL matches and I have no doubt they will continue this trend and breach the Saints defence on Saturday, but they haven’t been battering teams in recent weeks domestically.
Normally Martin likes his teams to control the ball and possession but not on this occasion. I expect a dominant City side to wear down their opponents already depleted of any confidence but will it be a cricket score?
The Total Home Corners market is where I am looking first in this clash, with Manchester City best priced at Evens with bet365 to have over 8.5 corners during the game.
City have had 76 corners awarded to them in just 8 PL fixtures so far, an average of 9.5 per match which is more than any other team in the PL, and an average of 12 per match in the last 4 games in all competitions. This leads me to believe this should be delivered again.
Pep’s constant pressure of pinning opponents into their own third will force The Saints into mistakes at the back, something they are making a habit of at this level.
bet365 sign up bonus: Bet £10 & Get £30.
I fully envisage City claiming their 5th win in a row in all competitions and returning to the summit of the Premier League for 24 hours at least. However, I won’t be putting up 1/10 shots as tips. We can boost this price significantly though by adding in a total goals stipulation.
With that, I am tipping Manchester City to win and Under 4.5 goals, with BoyleSports offering the best price of 3/4. There are solid stats to back this up as 7 out of Southampton’s 8 results (87%) have finished under 4.5 goals and 6 of City’s 8 games (75%) have ended with this same outcome.
Coupled with the fact Saints have a serious lack of goals threat, it’s entirely possible City win the match by keeping a clean sheet to boot, making the bet even more likely to pay out by full-time on Saturday.
BoyleSports welcome offer: Get £20 in Free Bets.
Instagram: thefund.bet
Telegram: thefundbet
Users must be 18+. If you are having trouble with gambling then help and advice can be found at begambleaware.org. Please Play Responsibly.
Trading financial products carries a high risk to your capital, especially trading leverage products such as CFDs. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.