Manchester City will look to continue the improvements in their away form when they travel to Southampton for a Premier League fixture at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Last month City manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted his team had to resolve their issues on the road if they were to stand a chance of winning the title.
After losing four and drawing one of their six previous away games in the league, Wednesday’s 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion was a step in the right direction.
But, even with Vincent Kompany back after almost two months out with a thigh injury, Pellegrini will still be concerned by City conceding two goals at the Hawthorns.
That made it 12 goals conceded in seven away matches but Kompany’s return is sure to add some stability at the back for Pellegrini.
Kompany claims City have changed their ‘away’ mindset and an upturn in their results beyond the club’s Eastlands base will be critical during a few key weeks.
“The games keep ticking away,” said Kompany. “If we beat Southampton we’ve got a lot of things in our hands again. That’s the mission and everyone knows it. It hasn’t been a mental block. We’re trying to have the attitude now that every game is a home game, irrespective of which part of the world we’re in. This league is very hard and we’re taking it step by step. There are a lot of games to go before we can compare ourselves to the team that won the league” Kompany added.
After the trip to St Mary’s they head to Bayern Munich, although both sides have already qualified for the Champions League knockout phase.
Following a home game with leaders Arsenal, City then travel to Leicester in the League Cup and head to Fulham before Christmas.
Written by Martins
@MartinsChokoe