Manchester City and Southampton are playing Saturday in the early match on the English Premier League schedule and the game from Etihad Stadium is a big one for both sides as the EPL season comes to an end and the matchup will be streaming from the NBC Sports Live Extra website starting up at 7:45 am ET and both sides will be looking for a positive result.
Man City comes into the game after a tough 1-1 draw with Arsenal last week and that came at the Emirates and now they return home after two matches away and the one before that was a win against Manchester United and that came at Old Trafford. In the past three games, Man City has outscored opponents 9-1 and they will look to continue that on Saturday as they head into a tough part of the schedule coming up at the finish. The team is in the mix at the top of the EPL table and they are chasing Chelsea and Liverpool and they have a huge matchup coming with the Reds.
Man City has been very consistent offensively before coming down against Arsenal and before that match the team had not conceded a goal in their past three games and before that they lost against Barcelona in the Champions League and had two other matches out of the EPL, including the English FA against Wigan that they lost along with the Capital One Cup that they won against Sunderland. The team heads to Anfield to play the Reds the week after and the team also will host Sunderland and West Brom before playing against Crystal Palace and Everton on the road and while the visit to Selhurst Park could be easy, CP showed they can play well at home after winning over Chelsea. The team then finishes with Aston Villa and West Ham at home at the Etihad.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini was hoping to have Sergio Aguero back for this match since he is leading the team in scoring and now he remains out with a hamstring injury. While Aguero has been back to practice and workouts, he is not healthy enough to get on the pitch and he will be out of the matchup on Saturday. Pellegrini said that Aguero would be back for the match next week against Liverpool and that should be a huge boost for the team as they try to take down Luis Suarez in their visit. Southampton comes into the match after a win against Newcastle and they remain at eighth on the table, while Liverpool and Chelsea lead Manchester city and Arsenal in the top four.
Chelsea was at the top of the standings before Liverpool took over and now they are looking to win their first title in many years and they have a two point lead over the Blues heading into the back stretch. The advantage for Man City coming up is that they have two games in hand over the other three teams in the top four and wins in those matchups could turn the tide for Pellegrini and his team as the final weeks play out. Manchester United is looking to have a strong finish, while the Gunners are looking to move up as well.
Check here for the NBC coverage from the Premier League for Manchester City and Southampton.