Manchester City drop massive points in draw versus Southampton: Stats
What's the story
Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by relegated Southampton at St. Mary's in matchweek 36 of the Premier League 2024/25 season on Saturday. City, who remain third, could be displaced by Newcastle United or Chelsea when the two sides meet on Sunday. Both the Magpies and the Blues are two points behind City with three games left. Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa could also close down the gap on City as the battle for top 5 intensifies.
Points
A look at the Champions League race as City draw
After 36 matches, City own 65 points, posting their 8th draw of the season (W19 L9). Whichever side wins between Newcastle or Chelsea will get to 66 points and leapfrog City. A draw would see them get to 64 points each, one behind City. Aston Villa, who are set to face Bournemouth tonight, own 60 points and could move up to 63 points with a win. Similarly, Forest face relegated Leicester City and can get to 63 points with a win.
PL
Top five teams will qualify for UCL from Premier League
Earlier, the Premier League and La Liga were rewarded with an extra place in next season's UEFA Champions League (UCL) based on performance in Europe this season. So 5 teams will qualify from these leagues. Notably, the Premier League is set to have six teams in 2025/26 UCL after Manchester United and Spurs reached the Europa League final.
Information
A look at the match stats
City managed 26 attempts with 5 shots on target. Hosts Southampton had no shots on target from their 2 attempts. City had 1.89 expected goals to Saints' 0.11. A total of 69 touches in the opposition box were clocked by City, who also had 72% ball possession.
Southampton
Southampton get to 12 points with valiant show
Southampton's draw against Manchester City means that they now have 12 points this season. It's one more than Derby County's record low of 11 from the 2007/08 campaign. Bottom-placed Southampton played out their sixth draw of the campaign (W2 L28). As per Opta, Southampton clocked just their 4th Premier League game against City in their last 16 matches (W1 L11).
Opta stats
Unwanted records for Man City
Man City failed to beat a side starting bottom of the Premier League table for the first time since November 2015 (0-0 vs Aston Villa). For the 4th time in their previous 11 Premier League matches, City have failed to score a goal. It's as many blanks as in their previous 55 matches in the competition. Meanwhile, this was the sixth game in Premier League 2024/25 where City failed to score a goal. It's their highest tally since 2015/16 (8).
SOUMCI
Dominant City fail to break stubborn Saints
City were dominant in the 1st half with Kevin De Bruyne coming closest to scoring for them. Erling Haaland, who made a return from injury, failed to make an impact. In the 2nd half, Omar Marmoush struck the crossbar for City. Manuel Akanji, Savinho and Ruben Dias drew solid saves from Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale. Bernardo Silva's effort which was also cleared off the line.