David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Southampton
Manchester City
One of the fixtures in the 36th round of the English Premier League will take place on Saturday at St Mary's Stadium, where the local side Southampton will host Manchester City. I’m offering a bet on the outcome of this clash with an attractive odds value.
Match preview
The Saints’ winless streak in the Premier League drags on, now reaching 11 matches. Over this span, Simon Rusk’s side has suffered nine defeats and recorded just two draws. In the previous round, they once again disappointed their fans, falling 0-2 to Leicester — a direct rival sitting just above them in the table. This result only deepened the team’s crisis in the league.
With three rounds left in the season, Southampton have collected just 11 points — matching Derby County’s infamous record from the 2007/08 Premier League campaign, when they also finished with the lowest ever points tally. Their home record is particularly disheartening: the winless run at St Mary's now stands at 12 matches, with just one draw and 11 defeats.
The Citizens are confidently climbing the table, having secured third place. This progress under Pep Guardiola is thanks to a strong run in the Premier League: over the past two months, the team has not lost, picking up five wins and two draws. The club’s current form is especially impressive — they’ve claimed victory in each of their last four matches.
At home, Manchester City dispatched Crystal Palace (5-2), Aston Villa (2-1), and Wolverhampton (1-0), while on the road, they comfortably beat Everton (3-0). Now, City have a great chance to climb even higher, as they trail Arsenal by just three points.
Probable line-ups
- Southampton: Aaron Ramsdale – Jack Stephens, Ryan Manning, Jan Bednarek, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Kyle Walker-Peters – Lesley Ugochukwu, Mateus Fernandes, Flynn Downes, Kamaldeen Sulemana – Ross Stewart
- Manchester City: Stefan Ortega – Matheus Nunes, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Ruben Dias – Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan – Kevin De Bruyne, James McAtee, Bernardo Silva – Omar Marmoush
Match facts and head-to-head
- In the first round, Manchester City defeated Southampton by a narrow 1-0 margin
- Manchester City have beaten the Saints in four of their last five encounters, losing just once
- The “Over 2.5 goals” bet has landed in three of the last five meetings
Prediction
The bookmakers have no doubts about a Manchester City win, offering a predictably low odds of 1.20. We believe the Citizens will have no trouble here, and our bet is “Manchester City to win with a -1.5 handicap” at odds of 1.65.
