Manchester City travel to St Mary's to take on Southampton on Saturday evening. The Premier League champions trail leaders Manchester United by nine points. A win against the Saints will close that gap to six points; United don't play until Sunday evening, when they face David Moyes and Everton. Southampton are 16th in the league, with 24 points. The Saints are only three points clear of Wigan, who occupy the final relegation spot.

Mauricio Pochettino
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 5.30pm GMT. Live coverage is on ESPN and ESPN HD. Catch highlights on BBC One and BBC One HD's Match of the Day, from 10.20pm GMT.

Overview

Southampton come into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw at Wigan. The Saints have not won since 12 January, when they beat Aston Villa at Villa Park. However, recent results have been good, with draws against Chelsea and Arsenal; United did beat them, though, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Overall, the sacking of manager Nigel Adkins has not affected the club adversely, with new boss Mauricio Pochettino securing three draws and a win in the last five games. A win here will give Southampton some breathing space and will give them some much needed confidence to push them through to a second season in the Premier League.

Roberto Mancini's side can ill afford to drop any more points if they have to catch United. Sir Alex Ferguson's side already enjoys a nine-point lead over their city rivals and Mancini knows that as important as it is to win all his games, he needs United to lose matches. And the best way to force that result is to put pressure on them.

City barely managed a draw last week and needed Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina to commit an error and Argentine striker Sergio Agüero to score from an impossible angle for a 2-2 draw. The Liverpool draw, preceded by a stalemate at Loftus Road, means City have now gone two games without a win.

Team Form

Southampton

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D L D D W
  • Last Match: Wigan Athletic 2 - 2 Southampton

Manchester City

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D D W W W
  • Last Match: Manchester City 2 - 2 Liverpool
Yaya Toure
Reuters

Team News

Left-back Luke Shaw may not play. The 17-year-old injured a ligament in the midweek England U21 game against Sweden and Pochettino may not risk so young a player. In addition, Nathaniel Clyde is also a doubt. Uruguayan Gaston Ramirez and Guly do Prado are doubts as well, meaning the Argentine boss has some unwanted selection headaches. Adam Lallana could make his first start though and January signing Vegard Forren is expected to make his debut

Probable Line-Up: Boruc; Clyne, Hooiveld, Fonte, Shaw; Puncheon, Schneiderlin, Davis, Lallana; Rodriguez, Lambert

City welcome back Ivory Coast internationals Yaya and Kolo Toure, as well as youngster Abdul Razak.Of those three, Yaya Toure will probably feature in this game. The champions have sorely missed the ex-Barcelona midfielder's inspiring presence in the centre of the pitch and, like last season, expect the 29-year-old to provide the drive for a strong finish to the campaign. Club captain Vincent Kompany returns to training but is still a few weeks away from full recovery. Matija Nastasic is expected to keep his place in the squad in his absence, with Joleon Lescott likely to partner him. Right-back Micah Richards is a long-term absentee.

Probable Line-Up: Hart; Zabaleta, Lescott, Nastasic, Clichy; Milner, Garcia, Barry, Silva; Aguero; Dzeko

Manchester United FC