Manchester City will be looking to bounce back after their 4-1 defeat to Liverpool last weekend and return to the top of the Premier League table when they welcome Southampton to the Etihad Stadium.
These sides have met on 82 occasions so far and Manuel Pellegrini’s men are actually on the back foot, having lost 30 and won only 28 of those clashes.
In terms of recent results however City are on top and remain unbeaten in the last four matches.
Ahead of their 83rd clash this Saturday, here is a look back at some their most memorable recent meetings.
Manchester City 1-3 Southampton – April 17 2004
The last time Southampton gained three points over City before their return to the Premier League was way back in 2004.
In their penultimate season before their relegation from the top flight of English football, the Saints managed to pull off a routine 3-1 victory against a very different looking Manchester City side.
It was Southampton striker James Beattie who opened the scoring in the 34th minute at the then City of Manchester Stadium, before Kevin Phillips added a second just after the break.
City managed to get one back in 77th minute and their goal scorer showed how different things were before sheikh revolution with Nicolas Anelka rattling Southampton’s nerves but a second from Phillips made sure of the win.
Manchester City 3-2 Southampton – August 19 2012
The two sides wouldn’t meet in the league again until the opening day of the 2012-13 season and lot had changed in the seven years since their last meeting back in 2005.
The now money-led City had a host of world class players in their ranks and were looking to defend their first Premier League title.
Southampton were returning to top flight for the first time since their relegation back in the 2004-05 season having dropped as low as the third tier of English football.
On paper it looked a routine start to their title defence for City but it was far from it. City took an expected lead late in the first half when Carlos Tevez fired home but what followed wasn’t written in the script.
The Saints managed to equalise before the hour mark when Rickie Lambert scored their first goal on their Premier League return before Steven Davis gave them an unpredicted lead to send the Etihad Stadium into shock.
City just about managed to pull through when Edin Dzeko equalised before Samir Nasri grabbed the three points late on but it would be Southampton who would take the plaudits and state their return in a big way.
Southampton 3-1 Manchester City – February 9 2013
Southampton’s intent was rewarded in the reverse fixture later in the season when they dealt a big blow to City’s title challenge.
It was a disastrous performance all round from Roberto Mancini’s side as they found themselves two behind just after the 20 minute mark after goals from Jason Puncheon and Davis.
Dzeko gave City a glimmer of hope just before the break but that was shattered when Gareth Barry rolled the ball into his own net just after the restart with the loss been a big blow to City losing their title to bitter rivals Manchester United.
Manchester City 2-0 Southampton – May 24 2015
Since that defeat City have managed to remain unbeaten and continued that in the final game of last season.
It proved to be a routine end to the season for Pellegrini’s side with Chelsea having already secured the title they finished it off in style with goals from Frank Lampard and Sergio Aguero leaving them in a very respectable second in the Premier League table.
Manchester City will host Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, November 27 with kick-off at 3PM BST.