At 1:30 a.m. on January 23rd, Beijing time, the 23rd round of the 2021-2022 Premier League season started a focused battle. Manchester City went away to face Southampton.
Battle record
The two teams have met 77 times in all competitions, with Manchester City taking the lead with 31 wins, 21 draws and 25 losses. In the Premier League, the Blue Moon also has an advantage in 35 encounters with a record of 20 wins, 8 draws and 7 losses.
Aspect 1: Facing the Devil at home, the Blue Moon shocks 13 consecutive victories
After beating Chelsea last weekend, the Blue Moons are one of the best in the Premier League as they have won 12 consecutive victories. In the past 12 league games, Manchester City smashed 34 goals and conceded only 7 goals. Since losing to Crystal Palace in October, they have 36 Premier League points, at least 13 more than the rest of the Premier League. Relying on this wave of victory, Manchester City has widened the gap with other teams far. Liverpool are still 11 points behind Manchester City with a game in hand, despite beating the Bees on Sunday. This game is a good opportunity for Manchester City to hit the 13-game winning streak in the Premier League. In the last 12 games, Manchester City has only lost 1 game, and the remaining games have 9 wins and 2 draws.
However, Southampton’s home results this season are still good. In the last 7 home games, the Saints have been unbeaten with 3 wins and 4 draws. This is their longest unbeaten home game after 9 consecutive home games from March to October 2016. For the record, it can be said that Manchester City’s trip to St Mary’s will not be easy. In the first round of this season, Southampton drew 0-0 with the Blue Moon. However, if Manchester City scored the first goal in this game, then their odds of winning streak will be greatly increased. They are the first team to score the most goals in the Premier League this season, and City have won all of those 17 games.
Aspect 2: Sterling & Tintin are expected to play the saint killer
In the game against Chelsea, if it wasn’t for De Bruyne’s smart strike, the Blue Moon might not be able to take away the victory at home. Tintin once again proved his worth. The Belgian scored 6 goals in just 17 games, tying the number of goals he scored in the Premier League last season. In addition, 21 long-range shots from outside the Premier League penalty area also made De Bruyne tied with Aguero and tied for the first place in team history. This season, Manchester City will give full play to the no-forward tactic. In the face of Southampton, which is tough to crack, Tintin must be a key player for the team to rely on. From the past, De Bruyne has often played well against the Saints. In the past 10 games against Southampton, De Bruyne contributed 4 goals and 10 assists.
Another player in the Blue Moon team who needs to rely on this game is Sterling. Even if he faces the Saints in the first round of the new season, this happy football spokesperson does not have much chance to play, but after all, the Englishman is facing Southampton. There is always a good performance, and Sterling has been directly involved in 11 goals against the Saints, which is his second best score against a single team in his career, only behind West Ham United who participated in 14 goals. .
Injury report
Southampton: Livramento (injured), Smallburn (injured), McCarthy (tbd), Djenepo (Africa Cup), Theo Walcott (tbd), El Yunussi (tbd)
Manchester City: Delap (injured), Zinchenko (to be determined), Ake (to be determined), Palmer (to be determined), Mahrez (African Cup), Mendy (suspended)
Predicted starter
Southampton (352): 44-Foster/35-Bednarek, 4-Leyanko, 22-Salisu/2-Walker-Peters, 8-Prowse, 6-Rome Wu, 27-Diallo, 15-Perot/10-Adams, 18-Broja
Manchester City (433): 31-Ederson/2-Walker, 3-Ruben-Dias, 14-Laporte, 27-Cancelo/17-De Bruyne, 16-Rodri, 20 – Bernardo Silva/9-Jesus, 47-Foden, 7-SterlingReturn to Sohu, see more
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