Manchester City vs Southampton

High-flying Manchester City play host to bottom-half Southampton at the Etihad Stadium in a seemingly routine Premier League task for the hosts.

Erling Haaland’s first-half brace inspired Manchester City to a scintillating 5-0 romping of Copenhagen in midweek Champions League action, cementing their place at the top of Group G (W3). Equally impressive in the Premier League, the back-to-back champions have won their last two league outings via a three-goal margin, including a 6-3 thumping of Manchester United in the previous round. Coming into proceedings as the only Premier League team yet to lose a single match this season (W6, D2), the ‘Cityzens’ will be looking to maintain their outstanding seven-game winning league streak at the Etihad. Notably, Pep Guardiola’s men scored 3+ goals in each of those seven victories! Relentless in the attacking third, Man City have netted a staggering 29 goals after the opening eight matchdays, the joint-most at this stage of a Premier League season.

On the other hand, Southampton spurned a 1-0 second-half lead in a morale-damaging 2-1 home defeat to Everton last time out, making it three Premier League losses on the trot. Stuck only one point clear of the relegation zone, the ‘Saints’ could be in for another season-long fight against the drop. Therefore, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has yet again come under heavy scrutiny, especially after his men lost their last two away league matches via an identical 1-0 scoreline. Despite going 18 consecutive Premier League road trips without a clean sheet, there’s a silver lining for the visitors. They held Man City to a scoreless draw in this corresponding fixture last season but are winless in 11 successive top-flight visits to the Etihad (D2, L9).