Hart, expected to be out for 10 days, sustained the injury in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Juventus in the Champions League. This match will be dictated by how well Manchester City play since their squad is much better than that of Southampton and if they play well they should win this encounter with relative ease.
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When pressed further, Pellegrini – who was similarly reluctant to talk about reports linking Pep Guardiola with his job – said simply: “I think we must win against Southampton”.
The Dutchman said: “It is not a question about tactics, about players or about the line-up if we make the kind of mistakes we did in the first 20 minutes”. Although the sight of Serigo Aguero leaving the pitch in the second-half with yet another injury will concern Manuel Pellegrini. “I was very happy with the performance”.
Man City reclaimed top spot after grabbing three of the 25 goals scored across six matches – an unprecedented total in the Premier League for that number of games.
And aside from a Van Dijk strike which rattled the City crossbar on 22 minutes, Southampton failed to trouble goalkeeper Willy Caballero – deputising for the injured Joe Hart – until Shane Long reduced the arrears with a header four minutes into the second-half.
“It’s important to have David back – he is a very important player, the same as Kun”.
Southampton have won just one of the last eight Premier League games against Man City (W1 D2 L5). Southampton are a great team and although they are not as good as Manchester City they will manage to provide solid competition. They’re still only a couple of points adrift of Premier League leaders Leicester City, but will be anxious to return to the early season form that saw them establish themselves as favorites for the league title.
The absence of Hart means third-choice Richard Wright, the 38-year-old former England global, will be on the City bench.
City have lost twice in a row and now are looking to avoid their second loss at home for the first time since the takeover year of 2008 when Mark Hughes was running the show.
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Saints were swarmed by a City side who clearly looked up for it having been handily thrashed 4-1 at home by Liverpool the week previous. “We didn’t hit the levels which we expect and which we have done over the past few weeks against Stoke”, said Davis. They have their fair share of injuries, but unlike Manchester City they can afford to take it one step at a time and settle for a single point.
