Manchester City vs Southampton (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How To Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City play host to a struggling Southampton side as they look to further extend their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.

Fresh off the back of a mid-week drubbing of Czech side Sparta Prague, Pep Guardiola’s squad will be expected to take care of business and continue their rich vein of form with another three points in the Premier League.

There’s an opportunity for Manchester City this weekend. An opportunity to continue their unbeaten form? Yes, that’s to be expected considering the winless start to the season for Southampton.

However another fixture taking place that City will likely have their eyes on is Arsenal vs Liverpool, presenting a chance for Guardiola’s men to leapfrog the league leaders and, results permitting, simultaneously extend their current three-point gap on Mikel Arteta’s team.

With that being said, Manchester City’s focus will well and truly be on getting the job done against Southampton. After all, three points is never a guarantee in the Premier League, and Pep Guardiola will be drilling this message into his players’ heads.

What will be promising for the Catalan boss ahead of Saturday afternoon’s affair is Phil Foden’s return to form following his Player of the Match-winning performance in the UEFA Champions League.

The 24-year-old has seen a slow integration into the new season due to his summer exploits at the European Championships. Whilst there’s no doubt that the Englishman is a spectacular player, he struggled for form during the recent international break.

Therefore, seeing him excel against Sparta Prague on Wednesday night will certainly bring excitement to his manager for the run of fixtures before the upcoming November international fixtures.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s opponents have failed to secure a win so far this season. Russell Martin’s team did well to race ahead into a two-goal lead against fellow promoted side Leicester, however their defensive frailties were exposed.

The East Midlands side staged a dramatic comeback, scoring three unanswered goals, to come away with maximum points at St Mary’s. Positioned 19th, this match-up could be poorly timed for the South Coast team, as Martin aims to lead his squad to an inaugural win of the season.

Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s contest, here is everything you need to know ahead of the encounter between Manchester City and Southampton at the Etihad Stadium!

Match Details

Manchester City will face Southampton on Saturday 26th October at the Etihad Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 BST.

Match Officials

Barring any unexpected changes, Tony Harrington will be the man to lead both teams out onto the Etihad Stadium pitch in the role of match referee.

The full named list of officials can be found here!

Team News

For Pep Guardiola’s team, Rodri and Oscar Bobb continue their respective recovery processes, with the Spaniard having undergone surgery at the end of September and will not return until the new season.

As for Oscar Bobb and the Norwegian forward’s return to action, that will be sooner than his midfield counterpart, with a return to action scheduled for some time around January and February, 2025.

Wide players Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku played no part in the 5-0 demolition of Sparta Prague, and while their injuries are not too serious, they are once again not expected to participate in Saturday’s fixture.

Another player to add is midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian has been absent from the club’s matchday squads since he was forced off with a groin injury during the Champions League tie with Inter Milan and, despite returning to training, remains unavailable.

The emergence of Rico Lewis this season has eased the burden of not having Kyle Walker since the international break. The versatile youngster has earned his place in the starting XI however the importance of an experienced head available cannot be understated.

Unfortunately for Manchester City’s Catalan boss, the club captain will also be ruled out for this contest due to a knee injury he sustained during the most-recent international break with England.

From the visitor’s standpoint, Ryan Fraser will be serving a one-match suspension following his red card against Leicester. Furthermore, Will Smallbone will be out for some time and therefore will not feature on Saturday due to a reoccurrence of a hamstring problem.

Summer signing from PSV Eindhoven Yukinari Sagawara is a doubt for their visit to the Etihad Stadium. Martin revealed that the right-back, who came off in his side’s 2-3 defeat at the weekend, will be monitored and a decision will be made.

Head To Head

Manchester City have been the standout side in the head to head record against Southampton, winning 41 of 101 fixtures.

More recently, Pep Guardiola’s side have won six and drawn two of the last 10 affairs. In April 2023, an Erling Haaland double coupled with goals from Jack Grealish and Julián Alvarez saw them romp to a 1-4 away win.

As City fans will remember, Nathan Jones’ Southampton team halted Manchester City’s progress in the 2022/23 Carabao Cup. A quick-fire double from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo saw the Etihad club dumped out at the quarter-final stage.

Statistics

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 12 matches against Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.

Southampton have lost seven out of their eight Premier League matches this season. This is only the second time in their history that the South Coast side have failed to win any of their opening eight matches of a season.

The Sky Blues are currently on a run of 31 unbeaten Premier League games since losing to Aston Villa in December 2023.

Russel Martin’s team have conceded the joint most goals from corners this season (5) whilst Manchester City have scored the most goals by the same method (3).

For just the second time, Erling Haaland has failed to score in three Premier League games for Manchester City, following a four-game goalless streak from December to February of the previous campaign.

How To Watch

In the United Kingdom, the match will not be broadcast due to the 3PM blackout regulations. TalkSport 2 and BBC Radio Manchester will provide radio coverage of the affair, however.

For Manchester City’s fans Stateside, Saturday’s fixture against Southampton will be aired on Peacock.

You can find full global TV listings for the matchday nine encounter in the Premier League HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!