Manchester City has proven to be human after all. After a stunning start to the season that saw Pep Guardiola and his new club on fire, the Citizens have calmed down just a bit and come back to the pack. They've been run down by Arsenal at the top of the table and merely lead on goal differential at this point, and they'll be hoping to restore some order at the top by taking out Southampton on Saturday.
This English Premier League duel will go down Sunday, October 23, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. ET at Ethiad Stadium. The match will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Manchester City -205
Southampton +570
Draw +355
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
The oddsmakers are essentially showing you just how dangerous Southampton can be. The Saints really should be bigger dogs than this on paper than a +570 choice on the moneyline and +1 on the Asian Handicap, but they've got some real players out there, and their form parlayed with Man City's form is what's clearly giving the oddsmakers some trepidation about this price.
The total of 3, even at -121 vig on the under is showing confidence that the Saints are going to put one home at some point at the Ethiad, a task that isn't always easy for these middling EPL squads.
Key Injuries
Claude Puel won't be able to call upon one of his best defenders this week, as Cedric Soares is out for at least the next two or three weeks with an ankle injury. Jeremy Pied and Sofiane Boufal are both out as well for the Saints.
City lost Bacary Sagna to a hamstring injury while he was playing for France in World Cup qualifiers. He'll be out for about three weeks or so. The news is better on Fabian Delph, as he should return from a minor knock suffered at the end of September this week for the Citizens.
Recent Form
The biggest question here for Manchester City is how it's going to rebound from a horrible thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in the middle of the week. A 4-0 loss at Camp Nou is sure to sting, especially after the team had to finish off the match with just 10 men. That's the fourth straight really suspect result for City though, as the team has now drawn with Celtic, lost at Tottenham, drawn at home to Everton and lost to Barca in a span of three weeks.
Southampton is going to have a short turnaround this week as well after playing at Inter Milan on Thursday in the Europa League. Still, the team is playing well, taking a 3-1 win over Burnley at home last weekend and a solid scoreless draw at Leicester City two weeks prior before the international break.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The real question we have in this match is whether Southampton is going to be able to successfully stretch out the middle of this field or not. Nathan Redmond has been a fantastic wide midfielder this year for the Saints, and he's got a history of being a thorn in the side of the top teams in the league from his days with Norwich City before the Canaries were relegated last year.
That's where Guardiola's side has really been getting burned lately, and we could see the same thing happening here on Sunday.
Though we're a little afraid of this turnaround time for Southampton, we're still willing to take the road less traveled and take the goal on the Asian Handicap knowing that we've got a bit of a safety net in the event of a one-goal loss to at least give us a return on investment if that turns out to be the case.
English Premier League Odds: Manchester City 1, Southampton 1
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