Manchester City vs Southampton Betting Tip – 18/09/2021 (03:00pm)

The Premier League continues this weekend, two teams face off who have had differing starts to the campaign. For today’s betting tip, we’ll be focusing on the clash between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Ralph Hassenhuttl’s Southampton at the Etihad.  

Manchester City is looking to make it four-straight victories when they welcome Southampton to the Etihad this weekend. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City managed a 1-0 victory at the King Power Stadium last weekend, after back-to-back 5-0 wins. The champions look back to their best and some important players could be set to start.

For the first time as manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola named an unchanged eleven for three consecutive games when the ‘Sky Blues’ faced Leicester last weekend. Guardiola may stick with the same side, but Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne might make their first starts if the team is rotated.

Unlike Manchester City, Southampton has been securing consecutive draws rather than wins. Their weekend draw with West Ham United meant three draws in a row for Ralph Hassenhuttl’s men. Three points mean Southampton sits 14th and could drop as low as 19th if they suffer defeat to Manchester City and results don’t go their way.

Southampton has a relatively full-strength squad entering the Etihad on Saturday. However, they’ll be without Shane Long who has tested positive for COVID-19 and has to undergo self-isolation. In addition, Stuart Armstrong and Theo Walcott are unlikely to feature as they nurse injuries.

Besides Southampton’s 1-0 victory at St.Mary’s in July 2020, Manchester City has had the better of ‘The Saints’. Their last three home games against Southampton have all been wins – with an aggregate of 10-4 so goals are never shy at the Etihad. As well as their scoring against Southampton, City are the league’s top scorers with eleven goals through four match days.

When facing Southampton, they also tend to open the scoring. In eight out of ten fixtures, City has registered the first goal of the encounter. As for Southampton, they can beat Manchester City, as shown in 2020. They also fare well in front of goal against the champions. Southampton has managed to score in four out of the last five games against City, but it’s a monumental task after Manchester City has conceded one goal all campaign.

The five most recent results

The stats suggest Manchester City should win this game. We have predicted a victory for Manchester City and the fixture involving plenty of goal-mouth action. With Manchester City’s home form, they should win this game, score first, and net over 2.5 goals

Therefore, we’re predicting either a Manchester City Win, Manchester City to Score First, and Over 2.5 goals with Ladbrokes at 7/10.