When Southampton were selling off the majority of their top players during the summer, and losing their manager, you could be forgiven for thinking they could struggle after such a promising campaign last term. Fast forward four months and they have surprised everybody with the quality and consistency of their performances. The draw with Aston Villa on Monday night brought an end to a run of six straight wins but it was enough to maintain their position in second, six points off of leaders, Chelsea. The next few weeks see’s them embark on their toughest run of fixtures of the season, however, beginning against last season’s champions this weekend.
Its one thing winning a league title but it’s a completely different challenge having to defend on, as well Manchester City know. They failed miserably in 2012/13 in what was the end for Roberto Mancini and it look like it could be a similar story this time around. They trail Chelsea by eight points and have struggled to find anything like the consistency, or the standard of performance, that will be required to win back to back titles. They will hope that their incredible 3-2 win against Bayern in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Looking on the end of another disappointing result, Sergio Aguero’s two goals in the dying minutes to complete his hat-trick secured a much needed result. They need to build on that, now.
Southampton certainly lost plenty of quality with the departures of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren, to name a few, but they managed to keep hold of some very important players as well. One man who certainly falls into that category is Morgan Schneiderlin who remained despite plenty of interest from other clubs. Everything goes through the French internationalist and he has formed an extremely strong partnership with Victor Wanyama in the midfield. He will be pivotal once again for Saints, come Sunday.
Tuesday night’s hat-trick took Aguero’s tally for the season to 17 goals. He is averaging a goal a game in the league and just below that in all competitions. If it wasn’t for him then you have to wonder the state City would be in. His return to top form – arguably the best of his career – has not been enough to compensate for so many other players playing below standards they had previously set, which is why they’re so far off the pace, but there’s little doubt that the current champions have the best player in the league at the moment.
I’m really looking forward to this game as both sides will look to cause the other problems. Southampton were not on top of their game against Villa but their performances at St Mary’s this season have been exceptional, winning five, drawing once, scoring 17 and conceding just once. City have managed only one win on their travels but they have an abundance of quality, especially going forward. If they can capitalise on their win against Bayern and get some confidence in their play then they will be a force here. The Saints have an exemplary defensive record but they’re facing a different proposition here and I like the goals in this match-up.
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