Dan brings us his thoughts on the visit of Manchester City for what will be a vital weekend for Saints as they strive to beat last years points total.
Sunday could prove to be a fantastic day when Manchester City come to St.Mary’s fresh from a home draw with Real Madrid. On the 40th Anniversary of Southampton winning the FA Cup celebrations will fill the city, but with a win and if other results go in favour of the Saints, we could be sat in sixth on Sunday evening which is enough for a place in the Europa League group stage.
An extra day of training should do the Saints some good to prepare for a massive game in deciding what we will achieve come the end of the season. Southampton are also in great form with only one defeat in seven and that was to the league leaders. And when it comes to the big dogs we’ve had some fantastic performances beating Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Beating City would mean that the Saints have had victories against each team in last year’s top four.
However, City will come to Southampton unbeaten in eight across all competitions and beat Stoke 4-0 last weekend whilst resting some key players for their Champions League Semi-Final. The opponents are expected to rest big players again on Sunday before they go to Madrid for the second leg on Wednesday. City are targeting a top three finish but are level on points with fourth placed Arsenal. Like it is for the Saints, City will have a desire to win this game if they’re to achieve their targets for this season.
My Predictions:
Score: 3-1
I would expect the likes of De Bruyne, Kompany and possibly Aguero to be rested on Sunday with the likes of Silva and Toure likely to miss out with injuries. Fresh from scoring four goals last week we are still in good goal-scoring form with great home-form being on our side. Without the likes of Kompany at the back, City seem to leak goals with poor defence and if they’re to rest other big players goals probably won’t be too frequent.
My Team:
Forster, Cedric, Fonte, VVD, Bertrand, Clasie, Wanyama, Tadic, Mane, Long, Pelle
Even though I would be happy to see Jay Rod start on Sunday, Tadic scored twice last weekend and has been getting a few assists as well. I think Mane was missed a little bit last weekend when he started on the bench then came off and scored. Pelle wasn’t missed as much with Long getting a goal but if we’re to win we need to play our best current team.