A look ahead to tomorrow's game at St Mary's
Southampton vs Manchester City
Date: 3pm, Saturday 7th December 2013
Venue: St Mary's Stadium, Southampton
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: M McDonough, R West. Fourth Official: C Breakspear.
Odds: Southampton 4/1, Draw 11/4, Manchester City 8/11
Tickets: Still available.
TV: Match of the Day, BBC1 (highlights).
Southampton
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
Squad (from): K Davis, Gazzaniga, Fonte, Hooiveld, Lovren, Martin, Shaw, Yoshida, Chambers, Cork, S Davis, Isgrove, Lallana, Ramirez, Ward-Prowse, Barnard, Lambert, Lee, Osvaldo, Rodriguez.
Injured: Fox, Wanyama, Clyne, Schneiderlin, Boruc, Do Prado
Doubtful: K Davis, Fonte, Ramirez
Suspended: None
Form guide: LLLWDW
Manchester City
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Squad (from):Hart, Pantilimon, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Richards, Zabaleta, Garcia, Fernandinho, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Rodwell, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Guidetti, Negredo.
Injured: Nastasic, Jovetic, Silva
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWWLWL
City have no fresh injury worries after the midweek victory at The Hawthorns, but will once again be without David Silva, Stevan Jovetic and Matija Nastasic at the weekend. Silva is, however, expected to be available next week and may feature against Bayern Munich. Manuel Pellegrini is expected to field a strong side for the game, despite the midweek Champions League game, and Alvaro Negredo, Gael Clichy and Joleon Lescott will be pushing for recalls.
Pellegrini will hope that the victory and performance at West Brom, where the eventual 3-2 scoreline flattered the hosts, is the start of a run of form away from home, after a disappointing four defeats from the opening six fixtures on the road. Yaya Toure, whose brace helped City to victory, said: "It was very important to take the three points. We know how difficult it is playing away and I think this will give us a lot of confidence for the next game. We have a tough game against Southampton on Saturday and we want to make a go of it there as well."
Victory at high flying Southampton would certainly be a significant statement of intent with the hectic Christmas schedule looming.
The Saints go into the game facing something of an injury crisis, with up to six first team players potentially missing. Victor Wanyama, Nathaniel Clyne, Artur Boruc and Morgan Schneiderlin are ruled out through injury, whilst Jose Fonte faces a late fitness. Gaston Ramirez is however expected to be fit, having shaken off an illness.
City's last away league game against Southampton ended in a disastrous 3-1 defeat, with Edin Dzeko grabbing the consolation. Overall City have won 25 of the 78 games played against the Saints, with 23 draws and 30 defeats.
Prediction: Southampton 1 City 2
Read the views of Southampton fan Ben from the Go Marching In blog here.