The Saints travel to the Etihad Stadium for a 15:00pm (UK) kick-off having drawn each of their last three league matches against Manchester United, Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively.
And the City boss referred to both that 1-1 stalemate with the Red Devils and our hard-fought 5-2 victory over Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side en route to the Premier League title last season, when asked to assess Saturday’s opponents.
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“They played against Manchester United at home really well and deserved to win,” Guardiola said.
“One of the toughest games we had last season was against Southampton. We won at home 5-2, but the first 30 minutes they were the team that caused us the most problems last season.
“I know Ralph (Hassenhuttl). It will be a similar game to RB Leipzig. They move quick in the transitions, the team know what they have to do.
“When you play in the Champions League, it’s so demanding when they have a long week to prepare the game.
“That’s why we need everyone together, my players, supporters - to help us.”
Hear Pep’s pre-match thoughts in full via the video above…
Manchester City v Southampton
City host the Saints at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 18 September, with kick-off at 15:00.
We’ll have full coverage throughout the day on mancity.com and the official app, with our Matchday Centre beginning at 13:00, whilst our Matchday Live show, featuring guest Shaun Goater, will start one hour before we get under way.
A match report and all the post-match reaction will be available shortly after the full-time whistle and you can watch brief highlights from 19:00.
A full-match replay will be published on CITY+ at midnight after the game.
