Southampton vs Manchester City. Premier League.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance31,850.
Saturday 15 April 2017 18:17, UK
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still to decide whether Claudio Bravo or Willy Caballero will play in goal in Saturday's Premier League clash at Southampton (kick-off 5.30pm).
Guardiola opted to recall Bravo for last weekend's clash with Hull City at the Etihad, but despite City winning the game 3-1, the experienced Chilean again failed to keep a clean sheet.
And that means Bravo has now conceded from each of the last seven shots on target he's faced in the Premier League.
The Saints, meanwhile, are pursuing their third consecutive victory at a time when boss Claude Puel continues to divide opinion.
There has been criticism of their inconsistency, but - perhaps partly because of Guardiola's influence - they are playing an attractive brand of football in which young players such as James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond have excelled.
The Frenchman again has Manolo Gabbiadini and Steven Davis fit for selection, while Martin Caceres is expected to again be on the bench, but Charlie Austin is yet to recover from an injured shoulder.
"(City) like to have the ball, good possession, good play, have good players in attack, but we will have opportunities also," said Puel.
"The most important thing for us is to keep the good feeling between ourselves; then we can go up against this team.
"The opportunity to play a great manager is very interesting. He has a good philosophy. It's always technical players, intelligent players.
"The aesthetic of football is very important for him. He's an example for a lot of trainers, he can win Spanish and German leagues, and in the future England."
Team news
Puel is yet to decide whether the returning Gabbiadini and Davis will start against City, but their presence in his squad leaves Austin and Virgil van Dijk, who has an injured foot, as his only major absentees.
Beyond those two, only Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy are unavailable due to to hamstring injuries.
City striker Gabriel Jesus (foot) and right-back Bacary Sagna (groin) remain on the sidelines, but could be back before the end of the month.
Captain Vincent Kompany is in contention after not being risked against Hull last weekend, but midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (knee) is a long-term absentee.
Opta stats
Southampton have picked up just one win from their last seven games against City in the Premier League (D2 L4), although that did come in this fixture last season (4-2).
City last failed to score in a game against Southampton back in October 2004, having netted in all 11 meetings in all competitions since.
Saints are unbeaten in their last two Premier League meetings with City (W1 D1), while they have only twice previously gone three without defeat against them in the competition (January 1996 and May 2003).
Against teams he has faced at least twice in the Premier League, only against Everton (312) does Sergio Aguero have a worse mins/goal ratio than he does against Southampton (264).
Aguero has scored in 11 successive Premier League appearances in the month of April (14 goals). He's scored in all three Premier League games in April 2017 so far and is currently on a run of scoring in four successive league appearances overall.
Should City win this match, they'll equal their total number of Premier League wins in 2015/16 under Manuel Pellegrini (19).
Merson's prediction
Southampton had a great win at West Brom, many teams have gone to The Hawthorns and found it hard.
But City cannot afford to drop points with United on their coattails, every game is a cup final.
Considering his age and playing in a new league, I've been majorly impressed by Leroy Sane. He's a top player and puts in a shift going the other way too.
Sane, Aguero and Raheem Sterling will get the ball out wide and help stop Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares from bombing forward.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 7/1)
Betting
City are Sky Bet's 3/4 favourites for the victory with Southampton up against odds of 100/30, while the draw priced at 14/5. Aguero heads the first goalscorer betting at 100/30 and is 5/6 to score in a fourth successive game, while Gabbiadini's importance is reflected by his place at the head of the hosts' side of the market at 13/2 to net first.
