Manchester City and Southampton do battle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as both sides look to bounce back from disappointing, yet contrasting defeats last weekend.
The title-chasing Sky Blues slumped to a demoralising 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool, while the Saints suffered a 1-0 reverse to Stoke City at St Mary's as the duo hunt immediate ripostes.
Manchester City
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They remain favourites for the Premier League trophy, but last Saturday's humbling at the hands of Liverpool was a painful reminder that it will be anything but a smooth ride for Manchester City if they are to win their third league title come May.
Overall, it has been an encouraging first 13 games for City, who have won eight, drawn two and lost three. But with five points out of a possible 12 in recent weeks, it is hardly title-winning form from the Sky Blues. Even in November, every point counts.
Their defeat to Liverpool was a result that had been coming for a while. It was preceded by an unflattering 0-0 draw away to bottom-of-the-table Aston Villa, while they needed a Yaya Toure penalty on 89 minutes to see off top-flight new boys Norwich City 2-1 the previous week.
In truth, they have not been at their best for weeks, with that 5-1 win over Bournemouth seeming a lot longer than five weeks ago, but they have a golden opportunity to flash their title credentials over the coming weeks.
After the visit of Southampton, four of their next six league games will be against sides currently residing in the bottom half of the standings. If they want to win the title, now would be a good time to prove it.
They sit third at the moment, two points behind top-of-the-table Leicester City and level with fourth-placed Arsenal.
With the Gunners in the middle of an injury crisis, and Manchester United - who sit second - enduring a somewhat inconsistent campaign, the Sky Blues have more than enough quality at their disposal to go all the way this year. Failure to do so and Manuel Pellegrini - whose spending comfortably exceeded the £100m mark in the summer - could find himself out of the job.
Recent form: WWDWDL
Recent form (all competitions): WWWDLL
Southampton
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It continues to be one step forward and two steps back for Southampton in a Premier League campaign which is yet to provide the same promise as last season.
This time last year, they were second in the table on 26 points. Twelve months on and they now sit eighth with 20 points. The Saints have also conceded eight more goals than at the same stage last term and Ronald Koeman certainly looks like a manager afflicted by the dreaded second-season syndrome.
There have been highs - namely a 3-1 win at struggling Chelsea - but overall there has been very little to shout about compared with their barnstorming start to life under the Dutchman.
In the two weeks after beating the Blues at Stamford Bridge, Southampton drew 2-2 at home to Leicester City, with Jamie Vardy grabbing a last-minute equaliser, before then drawing 1-1 at Liverpool. In both games, their opponents were there for the taking.
However, they bounced back, beating Bournemouth and Sunderland - both of whom sit in the relegation zone - but a regressive 1-0 defeat by Stoke last weekend wiped out the feel-good factor.
Not for the first time this season, it feels like Southampton have to start all over again. They are only six points adrift of the top four, but Koeman has been forthright in his assessment that Champions League qualification is not a realistic target. Whatever their aspirations this season, they need to find some momentum first and foremost.
They have yet to lose a Premier League game away from home this season, and maintaining that record at a place like Eastlands could certainly prove the catalyst needed to spark a run of victories.
Recent form: WDDWWL
Recent form (all competitions): DDWWWL
Team News
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Pellegrini's pre-match press conference threw up good and bad news as far as injuries go. David Silva will return to the squad for the first time in six weeks, but Kompany remains sidelined.
The Chilean boss confirmed that Willy Caballero would start between the sticks in the absence of Joe Hart, who will be out for around 10 days, while Bacary Sagna will continue at right-back due to Pablo Zabaleta's injury.
Eliaquim Mangala is also absent, meaning that Nicolas Otamendi is likely to come into defence alongside compatriot Martin Demichelis.
If Southampton are to win at the Etihad, they will have to do so without the services of their top goalscorer Graziano Pelle, who serves a one-match ban.
Consequently, Koeman could elect to pair Shane Long and Sadio Mane as striking partners after the duo performed so well in this system against Chelsea last season.
Elsewhere, the Dutch manager ruled Jay Rodriguez out for up to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on Tuesday.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Caballero; Sagna, Demichelis, Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure, Fernando; Navas, De Bruyne, Sterling; Aguero
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Stekenlenburg; Soares, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Wanyama, Davis, Clasie, Tadic; Long, Mane
Head To Head
Manchester City bring a three-match winning streak over their South Coast counterparts with them on Saturday. Their only Premier League win over City this decade came in 2013 when Mauricio Pochettino's Southampton beat Roberto Mancini's Citizens 3-1 at St Mary's.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Manchester City 2-2 Southampton
As Jose Mourinho will testify to, Southampton are anything but soft when it comes to tricky away fixtures. They made Chelsea, the champions, look like amateurs in October. Sure, beating the Blues has come quite easy for a host of sides this season - seven, to be precise - but it would be hugely unfair to discredit the Saints' performance based on their opponents' woes.
Consequently, Koeman's side simply cannot be written off on Saturday. Manchester City have been markedly stronger than Chelsea, but we still reckon that the visitors will leave Eastlands with a point at the minimum.
Shane Callaghan
