Southampton vs Manchester City: Champions to overcome injury-hit Saints

 

Manchester City are hoping to close the gap in the title race to six points on Saturday evening, and Kevin Hatchard expects them to succeed against relegation- threatened Southampton.

 

Southampton vs Manchester City, Sat 17:30 BST, Live on ESPN

Match Odds: Southampton 6.0, Man City 1.68, the draw 4.1

 

If Manchester City are to retain their Premier League title, they know they can't afford to lose much more ground on bitter cross-town rivals Manchester United. City  are nine points adrift of the leaders, but boss Roberto Mancini remains confident that deficit can be erased. With United facing a tricky home game against Everton on  Sunday, City will see a trip to relegation-threatened Saints as a chance to crank up the pressure.

 

City will be boosted by the return of influential midfielder Yaya Toure, who is back after the Ivory Coast's failure to win the Africa Cup of Nations. Toure has not  hit the heights of last season's stellar campaign, but when he is on form and bursting past defenders he is close to unstoppable. Kolo Toure is also back to provide  another defensive option, while skipper Vincent Kompany has an outside chance of playing after making good progress in his recovery from a calf injury.

 

While City have a strong squad to choose from, Southampton have a clutch of players racing against time to be fit. Full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and Luke Shaw are both  carrying knocks, while centre-back Jose Fonte is definitely out. Playmaker Gaston Ramirez missed Uruguay's game in midweek with a dead leg, while skipper Adam Lallana  is short of fitness after a knee ligament injury.

 

Southampton's ruthless decision to dump popular boss Nigel Adkins and replace him with Mauricio Pochettino was a bold move, and it's unclear at this stage whether it  will pay off. The Argentine's first game in charge was a creditable 0-0 draw with Everton, followed by a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United which included an outstanding  second-half display. Saints' most recent match was an ultimately frustrating 2-2 draw at Wigan, a game that saw Pochettino's men grab a late lead, only to concede a  stoppage-time equaliser.

 

Southampton are playing some fine football under Pochettino, but the Opta stats suggest they won't have much joy against the champions. Saints haven't won any of their  games against teams in the top ten, losing eight out of 13 encounters. On the other hand City have won nine of their ten games against teams in the bottom eight. These  teams met on the opening day of the season, and although Saints gave City a scare at the Etihad, Mancini's boys won 3-2.

 

I think it says a lot for City's resilience that they were completely outplayed by Liverpool last week and escaped with a 2-2 draw. It helps when you have incredible  firepower at your disposal - Sergio Aguero scored a stunning equaliser last weekend, and Edin Dzeko has scored five goals in his last six league games. Considering  Saints' injury problems in defence, I think they may struggle to contain a City side that averages 1.5 goals per game on the road.

 

Injury-hit Saints will battle gamely as they always do, but I suspect City will just prove too strong. It's worth backing City -1.0 on the Asian Handicap to boost the  price to 2.07. A one-goal win returns your stake, while a bigger victory pays out.

 

Saints have kept just two clean sheets in ten games, but they have only failed to score in two matches during that period. City have only failed to score in two of  their last 12 games, and against a weakened Southampton rearguard I like the look of Over 2.5 Goals at 1.81.

 

Recommended Bets

Back Manchester City -1.0 on the Asian Handicap at 2.07

Back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.81

 

Bet HERE

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