It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Manchester City were setting a ferocious pace at the top of the Premier League and all of the questions were about who would blink first: the champions or their closest pursuers, Liverpool?

But now, with a little bit less than 36 hours left in the year, that argument is a distant memory. Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Southampton this afternoon having lost three of their last four games in the league, allowing Liverpool to quickly open up a 10-point gap between the sides.

Win at St Mary’s this afternoon and that gap becomes seven; beat Liverpool on Thursday in a clash of increasingly high stakes and that gap shrinks to — at this point in the campaign  — a relatively insignificant four.

But any more slips… well, it doesn’t bear thinking about for City.

Kick-off is at 2.15pm.

TEAM NEWS: Ralph Hassenhuttl makes six changes to the side which lost against West Ham. Charlie Austin leads the line while Michael Obafemi, who is carrying a knock, is not involved in the matchday squad.

Southampton: McCarthy, Ramsay, Bednarek, Stephens, Targett, Romeu, Elyounoussi, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Austin.

TEAM NEWS: Five changes for City — Kompany, Zinchenko, David Silva, Fernandinho and Mahrez all start.

Man City: Ederson, Danilo, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko, B Silva, Fernandinho, D Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, Aguero.

KICK OFF: Referee Paul Tierney gets us underway at St Mary’s.

Early corner for City but Southampton clear without any difficulty.

Slick interplay by City with three quick touches setting Sterling free… but he’s strayed a yard offside.

SAVE! Super stop from McCarthy — and Jack Stephens certainly owes his keeper a Christmas present if he hasn’t already bought him one. City are bossing the opening exchanges, dominating possession, and Sterling chases a relatively lost cause into the Southampton area. Stephens dallies, trying to shepherd it back to McCarthy, and Sterling nicks it away and rolls it to David Silva. A fine stop from close range prevents the game’s opening goal.

OH CHARLIE AUSTIN! What a chance — and he’s completely fluffed it. Elyounoussi dinks a beautiful ball around the corner that catches City’s high defensive line all at sea. They appeal for offside — but Austin’s on… and somehow just bumbles the ball into Ederson’s hands.

GOAL FOR CITY! Southampton 0-1 Manchester City (Silva, 10′)

Ruthless by City. Absolutely ruthless. They so easily could have gone a goal down and instead, they’ve taken the lead. Bernardo Silva glides past Lemina, cuts the ball back to David Silva who is dead centre and about 10 yards out, and sidefoots past McCarthy to put City one up.

Any Southampton fans reading won’t need reminding that they’re just one point above the relegation zone as things stand. What can they offer by way of a response here?

Stephens tries to play the ball out from the back, and plays it straight to a City player. Oh dear. Fortunately, he makes the tackle to prevent any further damage.

What a goal this would have been! Ederson has ice in his veins as he deals with an underhit backpass and starts City playing a little tiki-taka inside their own penalty box, leaving Southampton chasing shadows. They launch a counter attack and Mahrez goes directly towards goal, curling his shot just wide from the edge of the box. Oooof.

More bad news for Southampton: Burnley, who are currently three points behind them in 19th place, have gone 1-0 up against West Ham.

Sky have just timed the difference between Charlie Austin’s flub and David Silva’s opener at 65 seconds. 

Danilo and Bernardo Silva are combining nicely down the right for City, but the former’s first-time cross is cut out by Southampton before it reaches Sterling.

SAVE! Another stop from McCarthy to deny City, but they’re cutting Southampton open at will at the moment. Fernandinho slides a through ball to Sterling, he pulls it back to Aguero, but his shot hits a sprawling McCarthy in the midriff.

Southampton can’t even get the ball out of their own half at the moment, never mind create a meaningful chance.

Now they have but two deep crosses — aimed at Austin, presumably — are dealt with easily by City.

EDERSON! The coolest man in St Mary’s takes a slightly loose touch to control Danilo’s backpass and then, just in the nick of time, whips the ball away from Hojberg as he rushes in to close him down. Only a couple of inches saving the City keeper from disaster there.

There’s not much to compare it against, but the last five minutes have comfortably been Southampton’s best. Aguero goes into the book for a sloppy foul and it gives James Ward-Prowse the chance to test City’s defence from the set piece. Put behind for a corner.

OOOOH! Save by Ederson! Great stuff from the City keeper. Austin gets up in front of Danilo at the front post and flicks a header towards the far post. Ederson’s moving in the opposite direction but adjusts his feet and pops up a strong hand to make the stop.

LATEST: It’s now Burnley 2-0 West Ham.

GOAL FOR SOUTHAMPTON! Southampton 1-1 Man City (Hojbjerg, 37′)

Well, well, well. City have absolutely dominated this game for the first half-hour but only  scored once, and now Southampton’s mini purple patch has led to an equaliser. City only have themselves to blame — they’ve been quite casual playing the ball around at the back — and Zinchenko is caught in possession by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. He takes it to the edge of the box, shapes to pass, and then smashes it past Ederson. All square!

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BIG PENALTY SHOUT! Smashing ball by Stephens and Ward-Prowse gets in behind the City defence. Zinchenko covers across and has an arm on Ward-Prowse who goes to ground… but it’s definitively waved away by Paul Tierney. The contact looked to be minimal on second glance.

GOAL FOR MAN CITY! Southampton 1-2 Manchester City (Ward-Prowse og, 45′)

And just like that, this game has changed again. The home fans are still lamenting the lack of penalty at one end as City come down the other and stun them. Sterling drives the ball across goal and it comes off Ward-Prowse’s boot and past McCarthy, who can do nothing to stop it.

GOAL FOR MAN CITY! Southampton 1-3 Manchester City (Aguero, 45+3′)

In the blink of an eye, City are cruising again, and it’s Sergio Aguero who sends them into the break with a two-goal lead. Southampton completely switch off at the back — Targett and Stephens allow Aguero to drift unmarked in between them and head Zinchenko’s cross past McCarthy. The keeper’s not blameless there either. Breathe easy, City fans, breathe easy.

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HALF TIME: Southampton 1-3 Manchester City

Southampton sub: One changes at the break — Nathan Redmond is on in place of Lemina.

SECOND HALF: We’re back underway at St Mary’s. Will there be any more twists in this tale?

Chance for Sterling to put a chance on a platter for Mahrez, but he’s a fraction too precise with his return pass and it’s intercepted.

Lazy tackle by Elyounoussi who throws out an arm in an attempt to stop Sterling and gives away a cheap free. Silva’s cross is headed over by Laporte who might have done better.

Timely interception from Targett who stretches out a toe to stop Aguero just as he’s about to pull the trigger from the edge of the box.

Sterling tries to weave his way through, as opposed to around, Ward-Prowse but loses the ball in a tangle of legs. It’s all City at the moment.

Save by McCarthy — although I’m not sure how much he knew about it. Sterling plays a one-two with Silva but his shot comes off the Southampton keeper’s forehead before ricocheting clear.

Booking for Charlie Austin, who doesn’t even offer a token complaint. His sliding challenge on Fernandinho was late and caught the City man. Yellow all day.

Southampton substitution: Romeu is off, replaced by Valery.

CROSSBAR! City take the free quickly, catching Southampton off-guard, and Aguero rattles the bar.

Mahrez turns back onto his left foot inside the box and has a go, but it’s blocked behind for a corner. Which comes to nothing.

Was that a pass from Sterling? Or a miscued shot? Either way, it very nearly led to City’s fourth as Aguero slid in at the back post to try to steer it over the line. Southampton manage to scramble it clear.

NO PENALTY! If there was an element of doubt about Southampton’s penalty shout in the first half, there’s very little here. Valery brings down Sterling from behind in the box, without even a hint of playing the ball. But the referee waves play on again.

Southampton sub: Shane Long comes on to replace Charlie Austin for the last 22 minutes.

The definition of a tactical foul there by Kompany who clips Elyounoussi to stop a Southampton counter-attack, and happily takes the yellow card for his troubles.

Man City sub: Aguero — who got City’s third goal — goes off to be replaced by Gabriel Jesus.

Danilo finds himself in the book as well now. This game is meandering towards its conclusion, with Southampton not offering much of a threat, but if they could nick a goal, it would certainly mean a nervy few minutes for City.

SAVE! McCarthy again! Great chance for Mahrez to finish this game off but the shot is at the Southampton keeper who saves with his legs at the near post.

A chant of Champione, champione… starts to build around St Mary’s. Not from the home fans, obviously.

STRAIGHT RED! Hojbjerg is off. Studs up, late, and caught Fernandinho above the ankle. No arguments from the Southampton man or from anyone else.

Chance for Shane Long! Laporte fouls him out by the right touchline and when Ward-Prowse whips in the resulting free kick, Long is first to it and has a free header. He bullets it over the bar without troubling Ederson.

FULL TIME: Southampton 1-3 Manchester City

So that’s it. A relatively routine three points in the end for Manchester City that moves them back up to second place and within seven points of Liverpool ahead of Thursday’s mouthwatering clash between the title rivals.

But for a few moments in the first half, it seemed that it was going to be anything but routine for City. They weathered that Southampton resurgence and, at their ruthless best, put their hosts to the sword.

That’s all for now but stay with us for more reaction and analysis over the course of the afternoon. Thanks for reading.