Wins might be coming thick and fast for Manchester City, but the champions will be keen to show an upswing in performances against Southampton on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side needed until added time to overcome Wolves last week having also found the going hard against Fulham before the international break. The absences of Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri are being keenly felt.
Still Russell Martin would happily swap positions with his counterpart of Saturday. Southampton have just one point from their first eight games and blowing a two goal lead to lose 3-2 to fellow newly promoted side Leicester only increased the pressure on Martin, who his critics suggest is showing too little willingness to deviate from his possession template in a league where the Saints are so often overpowered. Here is how you can watch the match and what you need to know.
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Viewing information
- Date: Saturday, October 26 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium — Manchester, United Kingdom
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Manchester City -800; Draw +850; Southampton +2000
Team news
Manchester City: There are no signs of the injury headaches easing for Guardiola. While the likes of Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain sidelined for the foreseeable future, good news has not been forthcoming on Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker. Indeed Guardiola is still unable to offer a timescale on the return of the former, with Erling Haaland seemingly missing the creative impetus of De Bruyne.
Add Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish to the injury list and there is quite the headache for Guardiola to navigate in attack, even if it is only who backs up the front three of Savinho, Haaland and Phil Foden. “”Of course I would prefer to have all the squad with the amount of games, but it is what it is,” said Guardiola. “Hopefully [De Bruyne] will be back soon. I’d like to tell you but I don’t know.”
Possible Manchester City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Silva, Kovacic, Gundogan; Savinho, Haaland, Foden
Southampton: With Ross Stewart and Gavin Bazunu the only long term absentees for Southampton, Will Smallbone’s hamstring issue will be a disappointment, the midfielder having only just returned from an issue last week and then reinjuring himself in the process. Right back Yukinari Sugawara is also being closely assessed but could feature.
“You can approach this game in many different ways,” said Martin. “You can go to the Etihad, defend for 90 minutes and nick something – or you can go there, express yourselves, play with courage and try to have moments yourselves. I hope we have given them enough courage to do that.”
Possible Southampton XI: Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning; Downes, Aribo; Dibling, Matheus Fernandes; Archer
Prediction
This could be a rough day for Southampton, all the more so if they are true to Martin’s suggestion they try to express themselves. City should have more than enough. PICK: Manchester City 4, Southampton 0
