Southampton vs Manchester City Preview: How to Watch on TV, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News

High-flying Southampton welcome a dipping Manchester City side to St Mary's for an exciting clash on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League.

The hosts sit pretty in third place in the table, four points and five positions better off than the Sky Blues who are desperately short of confidence.

Pep Guardiola's men have been a shadow of their former selves of late, with goals drying up in recent weeks, and in a season filled with fine margins, the Catalan needs his side to turn up and get the job done against a side that will test them to the limit.

Where to Watch

When Is Kick Off? Saturday 19 December
What Time Is Kick Off? 15:00 (GMT)
Where Is It Played? St Mary's Stadium
TV Channel? Amazon Prime (UK), fuboTV (US)
Referee? Mike Dean

Team News

Off the back of a 1-1 draw at Arsenal, the hosts have a fully fit squad to pick from. With just about every player in impressive form currently, Ralph Hasenhuttl will have a pleasant headache ahead of his team selection.

The Citizens are without defensive duo Eric Garcia and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Riyad Mahrez, Kyle Walker and the resurgent John Stones are expected to return to the starting XI after being benched in midweek.

Sergio Aguero is expected to start at the expense of Gabriel Jesus after looking sharp in his cameo against West Brom. The likes of Bernardo Silva and the versatile Ferran Torres are in contention as Guardiola looks to freshen up an attack which has gone stale in recent weeks.

Predicted Lineups

Southampton: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond; Ings, Adams.

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Mendy; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Torres, Aguero, Mahrez.

Recent Form

Southampton are on a decent run of late, with positive results pushing them up into the Champions League qualification spots. The Saints are playing with no fear and the results are showing on the pitch.

A draw at Arsenal saw Southampton push for a late winner though it wasn't forthcoming, while there have also been wins against Sheffield United and Brighton.

It'd be an understatement to say that City have taken their foot off the gas this season. After a mixed start to the new campaign, a resurgence in their defence seems to have come at the cost of their attacking exploits. City look dreadful and quite one-dimensional up front - most recently witnessed in draws against Manchester United and West Brom.

Here's how both sides have fared in their last five games in all competitions.

Southampton

Arsenal 1-1 Southampton (16/12)
Southampton 3-0 Sheffield United (13/12)
Brighton 1-2 Southampton (7/12)
Southampton 2-3 Manchester United (29/11)
Wolves 1-1 Southampton (23/11)

Manchester City

Manchester City 1-1 West Brom (15/12)
Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City (12/12)
Manchester City 3-0 Marseille (9/12)
Manchester City 2-0 Fulham (5/12)
Porto 0-0 Manchester City (1/12)

Prediction

City need to start winning games soon - this settling-for-a-point culture won't do them any good as they enter the most testing period of the Premier League campaign.

Southampton will not take the game to City but their brilliance on the counter, competence from set-plays and defensive resolve make them dangerous opponents any day of the week.

City will keep much of the ball, and although they aren't letting in many, their wastefulness in front of goal has haunted them in recent weeks and that needs to improve if they are to get anything out of this tie.

Prediction: Southampton 2-0 Manchester City