For starters, this is an early 6pm kick-off ... so don't get caught out.
That is because it is on the Champions League Round of 16 night so to avoid the clash with those later 8pm kick-offs. PSG take on Barca and Liverpool play Leipzig if you want to switch over to BT for either of those games after our game on Sky.
Premier League Stats
Saints haven't had too much success against us in the Premier League if you look at the overall Head-to-Head record but have always had that ability to pull a one-off result out of nowhere. We have played them 33 times in the Premier League era and have won 19 of them (ten at home and nine away). Seven games have ended in draws between the two while they have won the remaining seven (four at home and three away).
Last season they had that famous 1-0 win against us at St. Mary's when we were totally dominant with some ridiculously high no. of chances created and shots on their goal, yet they ended up taking all three points with their only shot on target. That is their only win in the Recent Meetings against us, while we have won the rest including that 6-1 thrashing at the Etihad in the season before last.
Our Form Guide doesn't truly reflect how good we have been by looking at just the last five fixtures ... similarly theirs' doesn't show how poor they have been either ... and for how long.
The Season So Far puts them at 14th in the league at present but that doesn't tell the whole story either ... here below are the official Premier League stats that include both theirs' and our weekend games ... and I will circle back to the form over a longer period in a later section.
The (Re) Schedule
Last mid-week's game against Wolves was the first of the two preponed games that we play ahead of schedule but it didn't have that much impact on the table as quite a few other teams (mainly United and Leicester, being directly below us) also played an extra game in there. This one however will allow us to post points on the league table that others won't have a chance to catch up to until another six game-weeks (end of April), when we play the Carabao Cup Final while others play their Premier League games.
Actually our game on the weekend against Fulham after this one is on Saturday as well while both United and Leicester don't play till Sunday. So here is a chance to add SIX more points to the total before those two even step out again. Mind the gap ... not that the current gap already isn't demotivating enough but add another six points to it and see how they fare in their respective games after that.
These are Saints' (and our) games around this tie:
Southampton Sat 6 - 3:00pm - Sheffield United (A) - PL
Wed 10 - 6:00pm - City (A) - PL
Sun 14 - 12:00pm - Brighton (H) - PL
Manchester City Sun 7 - 4:30pm - Man United (H) - PL
Wed 10 - 6:00pm - Southampton (H) - PL
Sat 13 - 8:00pm - Fulham (A) - PL
Southampton do get an extra day to rest and recover on each side of this fixture while we have squeezed it in between a Sunday before and the Saturday after so short turnarounds at both ends. Oh well, at least our Saturday game against Fulham has now been pushed back by a few hours (from 3pm to 8pm) for TV.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Southampton were top of the table at one point - yup hard to believe I know ... and it wasn't even after just one or two games early on in the season but it was in November that they were top after having played eight games. I remember that clearly because it was around the US Presidential Elections and Donald Trump (who had access to Twitter back then) had sent out 'that' infamous tweet ... which Southampton like thousands others used to troll him, while also highlighting their position at the top ...
A picture is worth a thousand words ... no, not that one above ... but the one I am going to post below.
I mentioned above in a previous section that I'd talk about their recent form and season so far and even typed a whole para giving details on how their win yesterday came after more than two months of nine straight losses (with the exception of one single draw in there somewhere) ... but then I went back a bit further and realized they have been poor even longer than that; they actually went crap from the time we last played them ... yes, the very game that started our long run of wins ... up until then (late December) they had maintained their top four position and for us it was a hard game a few days after a dull draw at home against West Brom.
The rest, as they say, is history ... and here is that (history) and that thousand word picture:
The only league game they had won between the reverse fixture against us and till they played yesterday was against Liverpool at home at the start of January. The other two green ticks in their run (against Arsenal in February and Wolves in March) are both FA Cup ties ... they probably have had the poorest form of any team in the league since they last played us - which for us was the start of our fantastic win run ...
For the old fashioned ... and if I take out those two cup wins from their run, this is the league-only form of the two starting with the game against each other on December 19th 2020.
They might have won yesterday after their nine game winless run (eight out of which were losses) but that probably helps us a little here ... as any pressure they were under would have eased a bit on them with that win (against Sheffield United). I'd have been slightly more worried if they were on a ten game winless run compared to our long winning run ... as that would have been the perfect recipe for the kind of upset football sometimes throws ... oh well, our run has ended now as well as all good things come to an end at some point ... fully expecting a backlash against Saints now and get back to winning ways ... we can't sleep walk into a dropping further points and allow this season to become a title race again!
Match Prediction
This is what one would call a home banker ... now with added motive to get straight back to winning ways!
Huge game now after today’s shambles. Dropped points here will give the Rags and Leicester hope. Time to revert to the pre Kev returns lineup and start another winning run
Had to make a few quick edits and change the form graphics too ... but it's always about the NEXT one for me :) C'mon City ... it's important now to get back to winning ways straight away, and not let this become a title race.
For starters, this is an early 6pm kick-off ... so don't get caught out.
That is because it is on the Champions League Round of 16 night so to avoid the clash with those later 8pm kick-offs. PSG take on Barca and Liverpool play Leipzig if you want to switch over to BT for either of those games after our game on Sky.
Premier League Stats
Saints haven't had too much success against us in the Premier League if you look at the overall Head-to-Head record but have always had that ability to pull a one-off result out of nowhere. We have played them 33 times in the Premier League era and have won 19 of them (ten at home and nine away). Seven games have ended in draws between the two while they have won the remaining seven (four at home and three away).
Last season they had that famous 1-0 win against us at St. Mary's when we were totally dominant with some ridiculously high no. of chances created and shots on their goal, yet they ended up taking all three points with their only shot on target. That is their only win in the Recent Meetings against us, while we have won the rest including that 6-1 thrashing at the Etihad in the season before last.
Our Form Guide doesn't truly reflect how good we have been by looking at just the last five fixtures ... similarly theirs' doesn't show how poor they have been either ... and for how long.
The Season So Far puts them at 14th in the league at present but that doesn't tell the whole story either ... here below are the official Premier League stats that include both theirs' and our weekend games ... and I will circle back to the form over a longer period in a later section.
Last mid-week's game against Wolves was the first of the two preponed games that we play ahead of schedule but it didn't have that much impact on the table as quite a few other teams (mainly United and Leicester, being directly below us) also played an extra game in there. This one however will allow us to post points on the league table that others won't have a chance to catch up to until another six game-weeks (end of April), when we play the Carabao Cup Final while others play their Premier League games.
Actually our game on the weekend against Fulham after this one is on Saturday as well while both United and Leicester don't play till Sunday. So here is a chance to add SIX more points to the total before those two even step out again. Mind the gap ... not that the current gap already isn't demotivating enough but add another six points to it and see how they fare in their respective games after that.
These are Saints' (and our) games around this tie:
Southampton Sat 6 - 3:00pm - Sheffield United (A) - PL
Wed 10 - 6:00pm - City (A) - PL
Sun 14 - 12:00pm - Brighton (H) - PL
Manchester City Sun 7 - 4:30pm - Man United (H) - PL
Wed 10 - 6:00pm - Southampton (H) - PL
Sat 13 - 8:00pm - Fulham (A) - PL
Southampton do get an extra day to rest and recover on each side of this fixture while we have squeezed it in between a Sunday before and the Saturday after so short turnarounds at both ends. Oh well, at least our Saturday game against Fulham has now been pushed back by a few hours (from 3pm to 8pm) for TV.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Southampton were top of the table at one point - yup hard to believe I know ... and it wasn't even after just one or two games early on in the season but it was in November that they were top after having played eight games. I remember that clearly because it was around the US Presidential Elections and Donald Trump (who had access to Twitter back then) had sent out 'that' infamous tweet ... which Southampton like thousands others used to troll him, while also highlighting their position at the top ...
A picture is worth a thousand words ... no, not that one above ... but the one I am going to post below.
I mentioned above in a previous section that I'd talk about their recent form and season so far and even typed a whole para giving details on how their win yesterday came after more than two months of nine straight losses (with the exception of one single draw in there somewhere) ... but then I went back a bit further and realized they have been poor even longer than that; they actually went crap from the time we last played them ... yes, the very game that started our long run of wins ... up until then (late December) they had maintained their top four position and for us it was a hard game a few days after a dull draw at home against West Brom.
The rest, as they say, is history ... and here is that (history) and that thousand word picture:
The only league game they had won between the reverse fixture against us and till they played yesterday was against Liverpool at home at the start of January. The other two green ticks in their run (against Arsenal in February and Wolves in March) are both FA Cup ties ... they probably have had the poorest form of any team in the league since they last played us - which for us was the start of our fantastic win run ...
For the old fashioned ... and if I take out those two cup wins from their run, this is the league-only form of the two starting with the game against each other on December 19th 2020.
They might have won yesterday after their nine game winless run (eight out of which were losses) but that probably helps us a little here ... as any pressure they were under would have eased a bit on them with that win (against Sheffield United). I'd have been slightly more worried if they were on a ten game winless run compared to our long winning run ... as that would have been the perfect recipe for the kind of upset football sometimes throws ... oh well, our run has ended now as well as all good things come to an end at some point ... fully expecting a backlash against Saints now and get back to winning ways ... we can't sleep walk into a dropping further points and allow this season to become a title race again!
Match Prediction
This is what one would call a home banker ... now with added motive to get straight back to winning ways!
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