English Premier
2025-05-10 - Southampton vs Manchester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 10th May 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Southampton
Relegation has long been confirmed, but there will have been frustration after a poor performance last weekend at Leicester City with Southampton still chasing one more point to move past Derby County's record low tally. Not only were Southampton well beaten on the day at the King Power Stadium, but the result has confirmed a bottom place finish for the club.
Next season could be a difficult one for Southampton with a new manager coming in and the squad likely to be reshaped significantly having come up way short of the quality needed at the Premier League level. The Saints remain on 11 points for the season after the defeat last weekend and they have a 1-2-14 record at St Mary's in the top flight.
Southampton's winless run has moved onto 12 games in all competitions and they have suffered 10 defeats in that time after the loss at Leicester City. The home run in the Premier League has been simply horrific with Southampton failing to win any of their last 12 here in the top flight, and losing all but one of those games played.
The squad might be short of Premier League quality, but the players are all available for selection this weekend.
Manchester City
We have rarely seen the kind of performance from Manchester City that has become the norm under Pep Guardiola, but this is a squad capable of stringing the wins together when they need to do that. They have come up well short of pre-season expectations, but Manchester City are on course for a top three finish in the Premier League and that means returning to the Champions League.
The soon to depart Kevin De Bruyne scored the winning goal last Friday against Wolves as Manchester City moved into 3rd place in the Premier League table and 3 points behind Arsenal above them. They have a 7-4-6 record away from home in the top flight this season and Manchester City perhaps need just four more points to secure Champions League Football for another season.
Manchester City are unbeaten in 9 in all competitions, while they have followed the goalless draw at Manchester United by winning 5 in a row. Since losing 1-0 at the City Ground in March, Manchester City have played 3 away games in all competitions and won 2 of those.
John Stones is hoping to return next weekend for the FA Cup Final and there is an outside chance of Rodri being involved too having missed much of this season. Erling Haaland was an unused substitute last Friday and may have to begin on the bench for this fixture.
Head to Head
Manchester City beat Southampton 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season.
Southampton have won 1 of their last 5 home fixtures against Manchester City and have lost 2 of the last 3 at St Mary's by the same 1-4 scoreline.
Prediction
There is nothing for Southampton to lose right now, but this is a team that has struggled for any kind of consistency at this Premier League level.
With that in mind, even in a non-pressurised environment, Southampton are going to find it very difficult to test Manchester City and it may be a case of damage limitation when all is said and done.
Pep Guardiola's men are unlikely to be distracted by the upcoming FA Cup Final with the manager focusing on his team securing their Champions League return without any slip-ups. They were not at their best in the 1-0 win over Wolves last weekend, but Manchester City were good enough and this is a match in which they should have a real edge in quality.
Erling Haaland may even get some minutes as the Norwegian hopes to prove his fitness for the remainder of the campaign and Manchester City's attacking threat should find spaces to exploit.
Southampton have tried different approaches at home, but the losses have continued to pile up and this is a team that have conceded far too many goals. At this stage of the season it is very difficult to see that change and we should get another routine Manchester City win having won 2 of their last 3 visits to St Mary's by a 1-4 scoreline.
Backing the away team to win by two or more goals is very short as far as the odds are concerned, but it looks the best approach to take. They have been picking up some recent clean sheets and Manchester City to win to nil is odds against, but they are not completely easy to trust and Southampton have scored in 3 of their last 4 home Premier League fixtures.
Containing Manchester City is expected to be beyond the hosts though and it should be a game in which the Champions League chasing side are able to come through with a relatively comfortable win.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Southampton 0-2 Manchester City
