Southampton suffered the ultimate humiliation the last time they played a Premier League game as they fell victim to a Leicester City side who battered the Saints 9-0 at St Mary’s, equalling the Premier League record for the biggest win since the competition came into existence in 1992.
Things won’t be getting any easier for Saints this weekend as they face what is probably the most difficult fixture for any team in England; an away game against reigning Premier League, League Cup and FA Cup holders Manchester City.
The game is a repeat of Tuesday night’s League Cup game, which City won 3-1 thanks to a goal from Nicolas Otamendi and a brace from Sergio Aguero.
Even those who might need betting odds explained to them will be fully aware that City will be huge, huge favourites to win this game as they look to close the gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
Saints go into the game sitting in 17th place in the league table and anything other than a loss to the reigning champions will be seen as a huge bonus in their battle to avoid relegation, especially as most pundits are predicting an easy win for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side go into the game in pretty poor form, having won just two of their ten league games so far this season, whereas City have bounced back from their defeat to Wolves with wins over both Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
After the 9-0 loss to Leicester, Hasenhuttl will have been pleased to see that his players showed a bit more fight and hunger in the League Cup loss in midweek and whilst it would be illogical to expect Saints to get anything from the upcoming game in terms of points, fans will hope to see the players showing the fight and desire that was severely lacking against Jamie Vardy and company last Friday evening.
