Manchester City and Southampton are in vastly different situations. City are riding high in the Premier League, sitting at the top of the table, while Southampton have failed to win a single point, which is obviously far from their expectation of returning to the Premier League.
Despite the huge gap in the league standings, one statistic surprised me quite a bit - the average possession between the two sides has actually been quite similar this season.
Manchester City lead the Premier League with 65% of possession per game, while Southampton follow in third place with 56%. This just confirms team leader Russell Martin's tactical philosophy and team expectations. In other words, the problem for Southampton is in the detailing, and the efficiency of ball control is far inferior to that of Manchester City. Blue Moon are far ahead in terms of goals, shots and chances created, while Southampton are not at the bottom of the table, but they need to be more calm in possession, or else the fruit of victory could easily change hands.
In last weekend's game between Southampton and Leicester City, we were firmly in control of possession for a while and led 2:0 at half time. However, the beauty of soccer is its uncertainty and the first and second halves of the game were separate. Eventually, they collapsed in the second half and conceded three goals in a row to further aggravate the woes of the Reserve. It was also the third time in the last four matches that they had conceded three points after taking the lead. They will have to adjust quickly as they are now seven points adrift of 16th-placed Ewarton.
Although Southampton have won home and away league games against City in recent years, they haven't won on City's home turf since 2004 and have even lost by 33 goals in their last 11 meetings. Combining the two teams' current form, I think City have the overwhelming advantage of netting at least 3 points per game.
