Manchester City vs Southampton – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Sreya

Manchester City will host Southampton as the English Premier League powerhouse strives to bounce back from its defeat against Liverpool last week. Manuel Pellegrini’s side also lost to Juventus in their midweek UEFA Champions League fixture, struggling to cope with injuries to their key players.

While Manchester City sit on the third position with 26 points, Southampton are at the eighth place with twenty points. Both sides are coming off disappointing losses in their last league fixture and each have won only three of their previous six domestic fixtures.

Team News

Joe Hart was substituted during Manchester City’s game against Juventus with a hamstring problem, and will not be available for the match. Elaquim Mangala, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri are still sidelined with injuries. While David Silva has returned to training, the fixture might come too soon for the Spaniard to make a start. Wilfried Bony is also expected to face a late fitness test.

Fraser Forster, Jay Rodriguez and Florin Gardos will be absent for Ronald Koeman’s side through injuries while Graziano Pelle is suspended.

Manchester City Possible Starting Lineup: Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna, Martin Demichelis, Nicolas Otamendi, Aleksandr Kolarov, Fernandinho, Fabian Delph, Kevin de Bruyne, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero.

Southampton Possible Starting Lineup: Maarten Stekelenburg, Cedric Soares, Jose Fonte, Virgil van Dijik, Ryan Bertrand, Victor Wanyama, Jordy Clasie, Sadio Mane, Steven Davies, Dusan Tadic, Shane Long.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“We have a difficult situation with too many injured. In defence, we have Zabaleta, Kompany and Mangala injured. In midfield, Nasri and Silva, while in attack, Bony is out. I hope that David could be involved in the game at the weekend. I’m not 100 per cent sure but he has improved a lot in the last two days – I also hope Bony will be fit.”

– Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City.

“Teams like City are used to having that pressure about winning games and if you don’t win as a big team there are always critics. But I think one of the reasons is they have some big injuries in key players and even for a team like City it is difficult for them to handle that with all the number of games that they have to play. It is possible that we will be fresher for the last part of the game.”

– Ronald Koeman, Southampton.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Manchester City have won 35% of its encounters with Southampton. On current form, the Saints are unlikely to win at the Etihad. Manuel Pellegrini’s side could earn all three points with a probable result of 2-1 in favour of the home side.