BBC Radio Manchester summariser Fred Eyre at St Mary's Stadium

"Two teams right at the top of the Premier League, a sunny day, what more could we ask for? Southampton have to keep harrying City, otherwise they will get a toehold in the game. And when City do that, there is always trouble ahead."

Southampton settle quickly. Victor Wanyama is seeing plenty of the ball while Yaya Toure has been forced into a long back pass. The Saints are doing all the early pressing.

Joseph Dempsey, Lancashire: Today is the day Southampton slip and start falling down the table and Manchester City emerge as the only team capable of catching Chelsea.

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Loads of noise inside St Mary's. Plenty of shouting in the tunnel before the teams emerged too. Screams of 'Let's do this' from Manchester City's players.

Ready? Excited? It's second versus third. And, after a Southampton huddle, we're under way...

Joe Hart is still sporting that moustache. First job he does when he gets back to Manchester has to be to shave it off!

Can Manchester City still catch Chelsea? Have Southampton got the squad to continue a title challenge? Is Sergio Aguero in a class of his own? Tweet #bbcfootball,, external post a message on the BBC Sport Facebook page, external or text (UK only) 81111.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini talking to Sky Sports: "It is always important to win so beating Bayern Munich means the trust of the squad is good. We still have chance in Europe so that's very good for the team ahead of today's game.

"We hope we're building momentum after winning the last two games. Before those wins I said we were not playing so bad, we were very unlucky, we had chances to score but didn't score and we conceded easy goals. I hope after winning the last two matches that we can build on that today."

James Porter: I think the duo of Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle will keep the City defence nervous. Such pace and strength.

Alex Corps: A Southampton win today would keep the league very interesting. Hope they can see off Manchester City.

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Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin ahead of kick-off: "We are confident we can cause Manchester City problems. Everyone knows it is going to be a hard game, a very tight game. We want to win every game, and we know we can cause problems to any team at St Mary's. We prepared as best as ever to show Manchester City and the Premier League what we are about again."

Former Wales striker John Hartson
BBC Radio 5 live

"Southampton manager Ronald Koeman is cool and effortless because they are winning. If they don't finish in the top four now, as a club, I think they will be disappointed. They are playing great and capitalising on the other teams' poor form."

Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic talking to Sky Sports: "Southampton are playing very good football and everyone is talking about them. It's a pleasure to play against them and I hope we can win the game.

"The midweek win against Bayern Munich gave us a lot in terms of confidence. If you win against Bayern then you are feeling good."

Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson
MOTD2 Extra

"Yaya Toure has had a kick up the backside and he owes Manchester City some good performances. I think we will see one today. It's a pity David Silva is not available, but City will go there with the mentality of: 'Yes, Southampton have done very well, in a nice way, but we are Manchester City."

Former England captain Gary Lineker
BBC Sport

"What to do on one's birthday (see 12:53)? Two cracking games of football to watch for starters."

Image source, PA

Will Sergio Aguero be celebrating like this at St Mary's? It is the Manchester City forward's 100th Premier League appearance. He has 64 goals so far. Only Ruud van Nistelrooy and Alan Shearer have scored more after 99 outings.

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman talking to Sky Sports: "Today is the chance to show our qualities against a very good squad that normally fights to win the title. It's the next challenge and we can do a lot of positive things today. The most important thing is that we need to keep our way of playing."

On stopping in-form City striker Sergio Aguero, who he has compared to his former Barcelona team-mate Romario: "Stopping him is difficult, you can't always stop these type of players. We have to concentrate because sometimes Aguero is more dangerous when we have the ball. That's because he is always looking for space behind the centre-backs. In one or two moments he can win a game with his quality."

Ashton Moore: Rooting for Southampton and Everton today - spirited teams, talented and relatively low ego players. Excellent, astute managers.

Mike Hall: I am excited about Southampton v Manchester City! I expect a goal-fest with City to take it with a disputed injury-time goal.

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Image source, AFP

Just under half an hour to kick-off at St Mary's. Can the Saints move to within four points of leaders Chelsea? Will City move into second spot? Will Joe Hart still be sporting a moustache?

MOTD2 Extra

Former England winger Trevor Sinclair: "For me it's a minority, I cannot speak highly enough about Wenger after what he has done for the club. Year in, year out they get to the Champions League."

MOTD2 Extra

Former England winger Trevor Sinclair: "You look at Aston Villa and you can see the club definitely needs investment. They are such a historic club, with great experiences from many moons ago, but it just doesn't seem like any of the recent mood is positive.

"The manager is the one who manages the team, and number twos are there to support. Obviously Paul Lambert needs support but Roy Keane's departure as assistant manager is not that important."