Dugout Discussion – Southampton v Man City

In Gameweek 36’s penultimate head-to-head, Southampton and Manchester City cross swords at St Mary’s Stadium. Saints’ only loss in their previous seven fixtures came at the hands of the league leaders, while the Sky Blues are in the midst of a five-match unbeaten streak.

Southampton found their attacking groove in their previous quartet of outings, placing fifth for attempts (65), top for shots inside the box (46) and second for big chances (11). The fact that they also rank fourth for goals (31) and shots inside the box (174) in home fixtures highlights the challenge faced by the visitors’ backline. On the flip side, the Sky Blues will be boosted by the fact that Aston Villa scored twice against Saints last time out.

Man City will arrive at the south coast with an air of confidence, having recorded the second-most goals (10) and second-best shot-conversion rate (22.7%) across their previous four outings. At the other end of the pitch, the Sky Blues conceded the joint-fewest goals (two), third-fewest shots inside the box (22) and joint-fourth-fewest big chances (four), which suggests a sixth clean sheet in nine match-ups could be on the cards.